History · Cambridge

Cambridge’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Cambridge. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

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The story

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After European-American settlement in this area and before 1843, Rev. Ithamar Pillsbury owned a large plot of land that was later developed as the town of Cambridge. He was well known among the numerous Yankee settlers (migrants from New England and upstate New York, who were largely descended from the English colonists in New England) who were migrating to Henry County at that time. Reverend Pillsbury deeded a large portion of his land to the town council for use as a town plot. Lots were sold to incoming migrants and on June 9, 1843 (after some quarreling among the town founders about how to finance it) construction began on the town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Cambridge, decade by decade

Before
2000
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Then & now

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Stories next door

nearby towns’ history

From Wikimedia Commons (4). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01