Camden was founded as early as 1837 by landowner Easton Chester and his sons Orson and Nathan.

The community developed around several sawmills, and a post office named Cranbrook opened on August 10, 1837.

[4] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.80 square miles (2.07 km2), all land.

The racial makeup of the village was 99.4% White, 0.2% Native American, and 0.4% from two or more races.

24.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The racial makeup of the village was 97.27% White, 0.55% Native American, 0.55% Asian, and 1.64% from two or more races.

The village is served entirely by Camden-Frontier Schools, which has its campus just to the southeast in Amboy Township.