Campbell was first called East Youngstown and this designation still appears on real estate deeds between 1902 and 1926, when the city was renamed for local industrialist James Campbell, then chairman of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company.

[9] In 1902, the Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube Company established a factory near the Mahoning River in what was then Coitsville Township.

[10] The village was incorporated in 1908, as its population swelled with young immigrants to work in the steel industry.

Due to the imbalance of ironmaking and steelmaking facilities at the two plants, rail shipments of molten iron "hot metal" were sent from Campbell to the company’s Brier Hill Works from 1937 until 1979.

In 1916, Sheet and Tube workers at the East Youngstown plant rioted during a strike over working conditions, which resulted in most of the town's business district being burned to the ground.

After the riots, the company erected a series of townhouses known as "Iron Soup" that were the first prefabricated concrete home development in the world.

[11] The company abruptly closed its Campbell Works and furloughed 5,000 workers on September 19, 1977,[12] a day remembered locally as "Black Monday."

Campbell is sometimes referred to as the "City of Churches" because of the wide variety of religious structures found throughout the community.

[13] As of the 2000 United States Census,[7] there were 9,460 people, 3,729 households, and 2,602 families in the city.

[17] As of the 2010 United States Census,[18] there were 8,235 people, 3,393 households, and 2,209 families in the city.