Biohazard Cleanup Near West Cameron Cameron, MO

Cameron is a city in northwestern Missouri that straddles three counties - Clinton, DeKalb, and Caldwell - with more than two-thirds of the community lying in Clinton County.

Because of that county split, Cameron belongs to two metropolitan areas at once: its Clinton County portion is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, while its DeKalb County portion is part of the St. Joseph metropolitan area.

Cameron was platted in 1855 by Samuel McCorkle and named for his wife Malinda's maiden name, Cameron, after the railroad judged his first townsite, Somerville, platted in 1854, too steep for the tracks.

The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad's Cameron Cutoff helped make Kansas City the region's dominant city, and Cameron boomed along the line, growing from 100 residents in 1859 to 3,000 by 1881.

McCorkle Park, named for the town's founder, remains Cameron's centerpiece park in its historic 'Olde Towne' center.

Cameron was a college town for nearly half a century: founded as the Cameron Institute in 1883, Missouri Wesleyan College operated there under the Methodist Church until 1930.

A building on the old Missouri Wesleyan campus later served as Cameron High School - home of the Dragons - until a new high school was built a few blocks south in the 1960s.

The 2020 census counted 8,513 people in Cameron, living in 2,664 households.

Cameron is the most populous community in Clinton County, larger than the county seat of Plattsburg.

Two Missouri Department of Corrections facilities in Cameron are among Clinton County's largest employers.