Claremore got its beginnings when Chief Glahmo led his tribe of Osage Indians from Missouri in 1802. He established a fur trading post along the Verdigris River atop a 25 acre mound which came to be known as Clermont, a French word meaning clear mountain. The chief later become known as Chief Clermont.

A settlement made up primarily of Cherokee Indians was later established on Clermont Mound. In 1874 the post office was established with the intention of naming the town after Chief Clermont. However, due to a clerical error, the name was listed as Claremore.

Rogers County was created from the Cherokee Nation and was named for Clement V. Rogers, the father of Will Rogers, and a member of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention.