From The KMIL News Room

(Cameron)  Restoration of Milam County's late 19th century courthouse continues with the removal of walls, ceilings, and floor coverings  that had altered the structure from it's original state.

Original courthouse staircases were made of metal, and will be restored to their original state during the restoration project. 

from "Easy Search for Milam Ancestors, Milam County Censuses for 1850, 1860, and 1870 " by Dorothy Crawford

     Milam County was named for BENJAMIN RUSH MILAM, a veteran of the war of 1812. A Kentuckian, Milam was trading with the Comanche Indians in 1818 when he met David G. Burnet who was living with them. Milam was with the Long expedition, and in 1821 he joined the Mexican army. He assisted in some of the impresario efforts. Toward the end of the siege of Bexar as the army was about to withdraw, Milam shouted, "Who will go into Bexar with old Ben Milam?' Some 300 volunteers joined him. Milam was killed on the third day of the assault, December 7, 1835

     From the vast territory of Robertson Colony as defined in the original grant, renamed Milam County, all or part of thirty-six present-day counties have been carved. First, all land east of the Brazos was de-annexed. A number of changes took place in the early 1840's and the area was greatly reduced during the years of early statehood. In 1850, Bell, McLennan and Falls County were created and a final definition of the Milam-Bell County line on April 4, 1861, left the boundaries of Milam County as they are today.

     A place for a permanent county seat was chosen by seven commissioners to be in a grove of post oaks a mile and a half east of Little River on the Daniel Munroe League. The new seat of justice and government was named Cameron in honor of Ewen Cameron, a member of the Mier Expedition who was captured and shot by the Mexicans. He was said to have bared his breast to the firing squad and shouted, 'I will show you how a brave American can die."

     Cameron has remained the county seat and four courthouses have been built there. The two story brick courthouse burned April 9, 1874 and all the archives were destroyed except a few case records and one volume of surveyor's records. It was a major loss to local history.

     By the late 1840's, now that clear titles to the land and more protection from the Indians were available, immigration increased rapidly and existing colonists were hard-pressed to supply new settlers farm products until they could raise their own crops. Insects, drought and flooding rivers were ongoing problems for farmers for many years.

     As late as 1875 transportation in Milam County was by wagons and stagecoaches. In 1861 the Houston and Texas Central Railroad reached Millica, fifty miles east of Cameron, in Brazos County. Produce from Milam moved through this town to Galveston and Houston. The Brazos and Little Rivers were navigated to some extent prior to the Civil War. A steamboat line was established on the Brazos, with wharves for receiving cargo at Port Sullivan, where the Austin-East Texas, and Waco-Houston roads met.

     In 1850, the steamboat WASHINGTON brought a consignment of merchandise up Little River to a point near Cameron for Cameron merchants, McCown and Company. It was the only steamboat to ever navigate Little River.

     In 1876 the first railroad was completed through the county when the International and Great Northern built a line from Hearne to Austin, crossing the southern portion of Milam County. Trade immediately centered along the railroad, making Rockdale the largest town in the region during the 1870's and 1880's. In addition to the railroad, it was in the center of a coal field which was mined during this period. Thorndale, Gause and Milano, (formerly Milam), also became important trading points because they were on the railroad line. The old towns along the old river trade routes on the Brazos dwindled away and disappeared. Cameron was cut off from the railroad until 1881, when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe completed a line connecting it with the coast and Fort Worth. In 1890, a third line, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass gave Rockdale its second railroad and three new communities, Ben Arnold, Burlington, and Minerva grew up along this line.

     The first attempt at a free school system was made in 1848 and the first high school was the Port Sullivan Male and Female College, established in the 1850's. By 1871 there were schools at Jones Prairie, Maysfield, Cameron and Davilla. By 1881, Rockdale also had a free school system.

     The census of 1850 showed a population of 2,907, including 436 slaves. In 1860 the population had risen to 5,175, including 1,542 Negroes. By 1870 the total population was 8,984 and in 1880 it was 18,659. Since the 1890 census burned in Washington, D.C., the population for that date is not known. 1900 showed the most dramatic increase in population in this largely agricultural county to 39,666. it declined slightly by 1910 to 36,780, and lost more during the depression years, but surprisingly, the population has remained remarkably stable ever since at about 22,000 to 23,000.