A waypoint named Verkhotomsky ostrog was established nearby in 1657 on a road from Tomsk to Kuznetsk fortress.

The area's further development was boosted by the construction of a railway between Yurga and Kolchugino (now Leninsk-Kuznetsky) with a connection between Topki and Shcheglovo.

Shcheglovo was granted town status on May 9, 1918, which is now considered to be the date of Kemerovo's founding;[2] and was later known as Shcheglovsk.

[1] As a municipal division, Kemerovo City Under Oblast Jurisdiction is incorporated as Kemerovsky Urban Okrug.

[22] Grigory Verzhitsky, a representative of United Russia and a deputy from the 16th constituency of Kemerovo, was elected chairman.

[23] At the sixty-eighth meeting of the Kemerovo City Council, Verzhitsky's resignation as chairman was accepted at his own request.

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the city's industries have experienced a severe decline, creating high levels of unemployment.

[29] On 6 June 2024, one person was killed and over 140 injured when a tram ran away after apparently suffering a brake failure.

[38] Kuzbass plays the matches in the league at Khimik Stadium because of the big public interest.

[41] The Kuzbass Kemerovo motorcycle speedway team regularly participated in the Soviet Union Championship from 1968 through to 1992.

Kemerovo's position gives it a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with warm summers and long, severely cold winters.

The heraldic description of the coat of arms of the city of Kemerovo is the following: in the crossed scarlet and black field, there is a narrow golden belt in the form of two diverging heads of grain ears, behind them there is a golden cogwheel that goes down; there is a silver retort in the middle, its neck tilted to the right.

[47] The emblem of Kemerovo displays the monument of Mikhailo Volkov, the discoverer of coal in the area.

The inscription of the city's name ("Кемерово" in Russian) resides on the diagonal from the left bottom side of the triangle.

[47] In 2018 Bank of Russia issued into circulation the commemorative silver coin in denomination of 3 rubles "Centenary of the Foundation of Kemerovo" which displays the statue of Mikhailo Volkov.