Cameron at a glance
Cameron sits in the north central part of Milam County at the crossing of US 77 and US 190. It has been the county seat since 1846. The courthouse square is still the middle of town, with the 1892 Milam County Courthouse, the old county jail, City Hall and a ring of storefronts around it.
This is Milam County, not Bell County. Temple is about 31 miles west and Rockdale is about 16 miles south. The Little River runs past town on its way to the Brazos, and the San Gabriel River joins it about five miles southwest of Cameron.
One school district, Cameron ISD, serves the city. The city runs its own water and sewer system, six parks, a public library and a small airpark. Outside the city limits the land opens up quickly into pasture, row crops and county-road homesites, so a Cameron address can mean a house in town or a place in the country.
A short history
In 1846 the Texas Legislature set up a commission to pick a permanent seat for Milam County. The commission bought a 60-acre tract, and the new town was named for Ewen Cameron, a Scottish-born captain known from the Texas Revolution. A courthouse went up the same year and the county records were moved from Nashville on the Brazos.
Growth was slow until the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway arrived in 1881. A second line, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass, followed about a decade later. Cotton carried the local economy for decades. Cameron incorporated in 1889. In the 1920s and 1930s milk-product plants operated here, including a Kraft-Phenix cheese plant.
The present courthouse was built from 1890 to 1892 to a design by A. O. Watson of the firm Larmour and Watson. Its clock tower was taken down in 1938 and rebuilt in the early 2000s. The 1895 county jail next door served until 1975 and is now part of the Milam County Museum. Both are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Homes and housing in Cameron
Cameron's housing follows its history. The oldest homes are in the blocks around the courthouse square, where the town was laid out in 1846 and built up after the railroad came. Several houses from that period are recorded landmarks, such as the Dr. Nathan and Lula Cass House and the Magnolia House, which dates to 1895.
Away from the square, homes sit on city streets served by City of Cameron water and sewer. Past the city limits you find homes on acreage, farm and ranch tracts, and county-road properties. Those are usually served by a rural water supply corporation or a private well, with a septic system instead of city sewer.
Because the mix runs from 1890s houses to rural land, the checklist changes with the property. An older house in town calls for a close look at the foundation, wiring and plumbing. A rural tract calls for questions about water, septic, road access, fencing and floodplain.
Neighborhoods and parts of town
Cameron is easier to describe by part of town than by subdivision name. Downtown is the courthouse square and the streets around it, with the oldest houses, City Hall on South Houston Avenue, the public library on East 3rd Street and Cameron Lions Centennial Park on East 4th.
The east side holds the school campuses. Yoe High School is on East 12th Street, and the elementary and junior high campuses are on East 21st and East 22nd. Orchard Park is on East 6th. North Fannin Avenue leads out to Cameron Park, the ballfields at the Airport Park Complex and the Cameron Municipal Airpark.
Outside the city are small Milam County communities a short drive from town, including Ben Arnold, Maysfield, Marak and Burlington. Housing there is rural: farmhouses, newer homes on acreage and open land. North Milam Water Supply Corporation serves several of these communities.
Schools
Cameron ISD serves the city and much of north central Milam County, including Ben Arnold and part of Burlington. The district runs four campuses. The high school is named for C. H. Yoe, and its teams are the Yoemen and Lady Yoe. The district office is at 400 East 10th Street.
Yoe High School students can take dual credit courses through Temple College, which opened its Cameron Education Center in 2000. Attendance zones follow district lines, not city limits, so confirm the district for any rural address before you write an offer. The county appraisal district record for the property will show it.
- Ben Milam Elementary School
- Pre-K to grade 2, Cameron ISD, 1100 East 21st Street
- Cameron Elementary School
- Grades 3 to 5, Cameron ISD, 404 East 22nd Street
- Cameron Junior High School
- Grades 6 to 8, Cameron ISD, 404 East 22nd Street
- C. H. Yoe High School
- Grades 9 to 12, Cameron ISD, 303 East 12th Street
- Temple College Cameron Education Center
- Temple College center opened in 2000, named for Lester and Beatrice Williams in 2002
Parks, rivers and the outdoors
The city lists six parks. The best known is Wilson-Ledbetter Park, 25 acres deeded to the city in 1914 by Lizzie Batey Ledbetter Wilson as a playground for the people of Cameron and Milam County. Civil Works Administration crews added the lake and stone and log structures in the 1930s. A state historical marker was placed there in 2013.
Cameron Park on North Fannin Avenue has the city pool, a children's splash pool and a 2.6-mile paved hike and bike trail. Milam County is also known for its old iron and steel truss bridges. The city counts 18 historic bridges around the county, and one of them, the Brushy Creek bridge, stands in Wilson-Ledbetter Park.
- Wilson-Ledbetter Park
- FM 1600. Picnic areas, trails, the Brushy Creek iron bridge, American Legion Hut and a bird sanctuary with a 4-acre lake
- Cameron Park
- 3900 North Fannin Avenue. Pool, splash pool, basketball, sand volleyball, horseshoes, pavilion and a 2.6-mile paved trail
- Cameron Lions Centennial Park
- 300 East 4th Street. Eight pickleball courts, playground, gazebo and picnic tables
- Orchard Park
- 1204 East 6th Street. Paved trail, pond, pecan trees, grills and a purple martin house
- O.J. Thomas Park
- 701 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. Basketball goals, swings, playscape and covered pavilion
- Airport Park Complex
- 4900 North Fannin Avenue. Baseball and softball fields used by the youth league
Things to do around the square
Most of what there is to see in Cameron is within a few blocks of the courthouse. The Old Jail Museum at 201 East Main shows the restored 1895 jail, with its cells, the sheriff's quarters and a hanging tower that was never used. The Milam County Historical Museum is across the square at 112 West 1st Street.
Next door, the Milam County Railroad Museum has an HO scale model of 1940s Cameron. A bronze statue of Ben Milam, put up for the Texas Centennial, stands on the courthouse lawn. Large murals cover several downtown walls, including one for the Yoemen. The city also lists the Morgan Military Aviation Museum and the Triangle Demonstration Garden.
Annual events
Cameron's calendar is built around the square and the county show barn. The Chamber of Commerce runs the Steak, Stein and Wine Fest downtown in the fall, and the museums stay open late for it. The Fourth of July fireworks alternate between Cameron and Rockdale, and Cameron hosted in 2025.
In March the Milam County Junior Livestock Show fills the Youth Exposition Building with 4-H and FFA exhibitors from around the county.
- Milam County Junior Livestock Show
- March, Youth Exposition Building. 4-H and FFA exhibitors from across the county, ending with a premium sale
- Spring Market and Artisan Fair
- April, downtown Cameron. Handmade goods, shop specials and model train displays
- July 4th Celebration
- July 4, in years when Cameron hosts. Community activities and fireworks, alternating with Rockdale
- Steak, Stein and Wine Fest
- October, historic downtown square. Artists, handmade items, local wines, antiques and collectibles
- Warehouse of Horrors
- Halloween season, First Street. Fundraiser for Milam County Crime Stoppers
- Christmas Parade
- December. The route winds around downtown Cameron with clubs, churches and bands
Employers and the local economy
As the county seat, Cameron has the courthouse, county offices, City Hall and the Cameron ISD campuses, and those are steady local employers. Farming and ranching surround the town. Milam County's north and west sides lie in the Blackland Prairie, and the south and east sides are post oak country.
Manufacturing is the other leg. Charlotte Pipe and Foundry built a plastics plant in Cameron in 1981 and has expanded it since. Butler Weldments makes fabricated and machined metal products at its plant here. Its manufacturing complex sits on about 28 acres and covers fabrication, warehouse and office space.
South of Cameron, near Rockdale, Alcoa ran an aluminum plant from the 1950s until it closed. That 33,000-acre property is now being redeveloped as Sandow Lakes. The developer, Xebec, announced a first phase of industrial space in January 2025, with later phases planned for housing, retail and offices.
Getting around
US 77 runs north and south through Cameron, toward Waco one way and Rockdale the other. US 190 and SH 36 come in together from Temple. By road it is about 31 miles to Temple, about 16 miles to Rockdale, about 51 miles to Waco, about 52 miles to Bryan and about 75 miles to Austin.
Belton is about 35 miles west and Salado is about 44 miles. A freight rail line still passes through town. Cameron Municipal Airpark, owned by the city, is two miles north of town and has one 3,200-foot asphalt runway for general aviation. You will want a car here.
Utilities and practical details
Inside the city, water, sewer and trash service are billed by the City of Cameron through the Utility Billing Department at City Hall, 100 South Houston Avenue, 254-697-6646. Ask which electric company serves the address. Where the lines are Oncor's you pick your own retail electric provider. Some rural addresses are on a co-op instead, such as Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative, which serves part of Milam County.
Outside the city limits, water usually comes from a rural water supply corporation or a well. North Milam Water Supply Corporation serves communities north of Cameron along US 77 and FM 485. Ask the seller which provider serves the address, and get it in writing before you close.
Baylor Scott & White runs a primary care clinic at 101 Lafferty Avenue. It is a weekday clinic, not an emergency room. The regional medical center is Baylor Scott & White in Temple. The Cameron Public Library is at 304 East 3rd Street, a few blocks from the square.
Buying and selling in Cameron
Bruce Burgess is a Temple native who has held a Texas real estate license since 1991 and has owned Champion Realty, in Belton, since 2007. These are the things he would have you check in Cameron.
Before you buy
- Cameron ISD covers much of north central Milam County, but district lines do not follow city limits, so confirm the district for any rural address.
- The Little River and the creeks that feed it run close to Cameron, so check the FEMA flood map and ask about past high water on any low-lying lot or river-bottom tract.
- Northern and western Milam County sit in the Blackland Prairie, so have a foundation inspection done, most of all on older pier-and-beam and slab homes.
- Outside the city limits, find out whether the property has a water supply corporation meter or a well, and ask for the septic permit and its service history.
- Confirm whether the electric service is Oncor, where you choose a retail provider, or an electric co-op, where you do not.
Before you sell
- Buyers from Temple, Austin and Bryan-College Station often do not know Cameron, so a listing should spell out the road miles and the school district.
- For rural property, have the survey, well or water-meter details, septic records and any agricultural valuation paperwork ready before you list.
- For an older home near the square, gather records of foundation, roof, wiring and plumbing work, because buyers and inspectors will ask for them.
