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History · Cambridge

Cambridge’s post office opened in 1900, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1910.

1900first post office
4on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cambridge’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cambridge began

When was Cambridge founded?

1900

The Cambridge post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 349 in 19102020 census: 335126 years
Founding year: the first Cambridge post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cambridge’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 473 in 1960; 335 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Cambridge’s homes were built before 1955.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · People over time

Cambridge, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 473

Peaked at 473 in 1960; 335 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cambridge’s Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Cambridge, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cambridge yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Cambridge is a city in Washington County, Idaho, United States. The population was 335 at the 2020 census, up from 328 at the 2010 census. It is the second-largest city in the county, behind the significantly larger Weiser, the county seat.

Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 328 to 335 (+2%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

On the National Register

4 historic places in Cambridge

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Cambridge News Office
Cambridge News Office, built 1912Jewell Building, built 1905Salubria Lodge No. 31Wilson House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Commercial Vernacular2
Late Victorian: Queen Anne1
Cambridge News OfficeCommercial Vernacular · Built 1912
Jewell BuildingCommercial Vernacular · Built 1905
Salubria Lodge No. 31Building
Wilson HouseLate Victorian: Queen Anne

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Timeline

Cambridge, 1900 to 1990

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Cambridge post office opens
  3. 1905BuiltJewell Building is built
  4. 1906Born hereHerman Welker is born here
  5. 1912BuiltCambridge News Office is built
  6. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 473
  8. 1968In the archiveVIEW OF SIDE GUARD RAIL, WEST SIDE OF SOUTH END, LOOKING WEST - Burton Road Bridge, Spann…
  9. 1980In the archiveBrick storefront
  10. 1990In the archiveMuseum
By decade

Cambridge, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s–1990s4 items
VIEW OF SIDE GUARD RAIL, WEST SIDE OF SOUTH END, LOOKING WEST - Burton Road Bridge, Spanning Little Weiser River, Cambr…1968VIEW OF SIDE GUARD RAIL, WEST SIDE OF SOUTH END, LOOK…VIEW OF UPPER CHORD CONNECTIONS AND VERTICAL MEMBERS, WEST SIDE OF SOUTH END, LOOKING NORTHWEST - Burton Road Bridge, S…1968VIEW OF UPPER CHORD CONNECTIONS AND VERTICAL MEMBERS,…Brick storefront1980Brick storefrontMuseum1990Museum
Date unknown1 to date
Burton Road Bridge, Spanning Little Weiser RiverDate?Burton Road Bridge, Spanning Little Weiser River
Today8 recent
Cambridge, Idaho2018Cambridge, IdahoJewell Building2015Jewell BuildingCambridge News Office2015Cambridge News OfficeWilson House2014Wilson HouseSalubria Lodge2014Salubria LodgeEdwards-Gillette Barn2014Edwards-Gillette BarnRoad signs in2005Road signs inIDMap-doton-Cambridge2004IDMap-doton-Cambridge
On the map

Cambridge on the map, 1957 to 1986

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cambridge. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Cambridge on the 1957 USGS mapCambridge on the 1986 USGS map1957Cambridge sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cambridge.

Every building

Cambridge, building by building, 1911

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Cambridge fire insurance map, 1911, sheet 11911Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

VIEW OF SIDE GUARD RAIL, WEST SIDE OF SOUTH END, LOOKING WEST - Burton Road Bridge, Spanning Little Weiser River, Cambr…
Retake this viewVIEW OF SIDE GUARD RAIL, WEST SIDE OF SOUTH END, LOOKING WEST - Burton Road Bridge, Spanning Little Weiser River, Cambr…, 1968

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cambridge’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Start Cambridge’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cambridge’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewVIEW OF SIDE GUARD RAIL, WEST SIDE OF S…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Cambridge’s history

What year was Cambridge founded?

The Cambridge post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Cambridge?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Cambridge News Office (listed 1989, the first).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.