Alfred Sidney Campbell, a Confederate Army veteran, built a house here in the 1860s while seeking better grazing lands for his cattle. After Henry Plant's railroad system was built, Campbell operated a store and post office for the area, and soon afterward the station and city were named for him. The railroad established section housing near Campbell Station for workers who repaired the tracks, and trains on this route hauled turpentine, pine stumps for making gunpowder, timber, and other goods. As technology changed the way tracks were maintained, the workers were no longer needed and moved away. The section houses were sold, and Campbell Station became just a name along the tracks.