Campbell is named for Benjamin Campbell, who bought 160 acres here in 1851. The settlement was first known as Campbell’s Place, and the first subdivision was recorded in 1887, west of the railroad.
It grew as a shipping town for the fruit of the surrounding orchards, with drying yards and canneries beside the tracks. It incorporated in 1952 and then grew quickly as the orchards were replaced by housing tracts. The 2020 census counted 43,959 residents in about six square miles.