Work started in July 1902, and the station was opened on 22 June 1907 by David Lloyd George, then President of the Board of Trade.

The surface building was designed by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's (UERL's) architect Leslie Green.

When the CCE&HR and City & South London Railway (C&SLR) lines were joined together after the C&SLR became part of the Underground Group on 1 January 1913,[10] a short extension was planned from the Euston terminus of the City & South London Railway to connect with the CCE&HR south of Camden Town station allowing services to run from both City and West End branches to and from the Hampstead and Highgate branches.

[12] The work required to join the two lines together at Camden Town was one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the Underground, and was undertaken without disrupting any existing services.

[12] This has only two pairs of parallel passageways, one for each branch (northbound), with a small side passage on each leading to the lower southbound platforms.

One set of the original lift passageways became part of the ventilation system, but the remaining one adds to the confusion of the station.

Extra friction arising out of striations (scratches) on a newly installed set of points had allowed the leading wheel of the last carriage to climb the rail and therefore derail.

[20] The station is too small for current passenger demand, with just two escalators and too few passageways between Northern line platforms.

[21] London Underground originally submitted redevelopment plans in the early 2000s, a £130m project that would have eased congestion and provided step free access – with residential and office development above the new station.

In 2013, TfL announced[27] new redevelopment plans given the continuing congestion and high passenger demand at the station.

[21] In 2018, following the delays to Crossrail and the knock on effects on TfL's business plan, the station upgrade was placed on hold indefinitely.

[30] As one of only three stations where transfers between the Bank and Charing Cross branches are possible and the northern of the two junctions between them, Camden Town features a complex platform arrangement.