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DHistory
History · Cambria

Cambria dates to 1904

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Cambria was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1999. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1910.

1904founded
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
15old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cambria’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cambria began

When was Cambria founded?

1904

Cambria dates its founding to 1904 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 658 in 19102020 census: 1,505122 years

How historic is Cambria?

D

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1905.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Cambria’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cambria is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cambria’s overall grade.
Founding era1904, from Wikipedia: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19405.6% of homes (±4.7) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 13%
NewerOlder

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cambria’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 points). Two sources give 1904.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Cambria’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1930 and 1960, then more than doubled.A town in old photos15 old photos, postcards and papers.On the map since 19104 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 1978. Watch Cambria change.
★ What stands out · People over time

Cambria, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600192019401960198020002020815 in 1930Low: 568

Lost a third of its people between 1930 and 1960, then more than doubled.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

By decade

Cambria, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s15 items
Miner's home. Cambria, Illinois1939Miner's home. Cambria, IllinoisAbandoned stores. Cambria, Illinois1939Abandoned stores. Cambria, IllinoisAbandoned store. Cambria, Illinois1939Abandoned store. Cambria, IllinoisPentacostal church at Cambria, Illinois1939Pentacostal church at Cambria, IllinoisEvangelist preaching sermon. Pentecostal church1939Evangelist preaching sermon. Pentecostal churchWPA (Works Progress Administration) project. Cambria, Illinois1939WPA (Works Progress Administration) project. Cambria,…Preacher conducting hymn singing. Pentecostal church1939Preacher conducting hymn singing. Pentecostal churchPraying during revival meeting. Pentecostal church1939Praying during revival meeting. Pentecostal churchPrayer during revival meeting. Pentecostal church1939Prayer during revival meeting. Pentecostal churchUntitled photo, possibly related to: Abandoned stores. Cambria, Illinois1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Abandoned stores…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Miner's home. Cambria, Illinois1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Miner's home. Ca…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Abandoned store. Cambria, Illinois1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Abandoned store.…Choir singing at revival meeting in Pentecostal church. Cambria, Illinois1939Choir singing at revival meeting in Pentecostal churc…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Pentacostal church at Cambria, Illinois1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Pentacostal chur…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Evangelist preaching sermon. Pentecostal church1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Evangelist preac…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Cambria-post-office-il2021Cambria-post-office-ilCambria-Municipal-Building-il2021Cambria-Municipal-Building-ilCambria-Maple-St-il2021Cambria-Maple-St-il
On the map

Cambria on the map, 1910 to 1978

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

Cambria on the 1910 USGS mapCambria on the 1936 USGS mapCambria on the 1968 USGS mapCambria on the 1978 USGS map1910Herrin 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 Cambria.

The story

How Cambria came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cambria.

Read it all →

Cambria was established in the early 1900s by brothers Tom and Evan John, owners of the Carterville and Big Muddy Coal Company, which had opened a mine in the area around 1904. The community was originally known as Lauder, but was changed to Cambria, the old Latin name for Wales, from which the John brothers hailed. A post office known as Reeves opened in 1905, but its name was changed to Cambria in 1911.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cambria, 1904 to 2020

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904
    FoundingCambria is established
  3. 1905Born hereLuther Harvel is born here
  4. 1905Post officeThe Reeves post office opens
  5. 1910On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1911Post officeThe Reeves post office closes
  7. 1911Post officeThe Cambria post office opens
  8. 1939In the archiveMiner's home. Cambria, Illinois
  9. 21st century
  10. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 1,505
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.

Miner's home. Cambria, Illinois
Retake this viewMiner's home. Cambria, Illinois, 1939

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Cambria’s post office has been open since 1911. Another post office, Reeves, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Reeves
1905–1911
Cambria
1911–today
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FredoniaParadise Acres Manufactured Home Community
Gone or out of use
Cambria Elementary Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cambria
HinchcliffRodd

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Cambria’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMiner's home. Cambria, Illinois: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

CartervilleIts storyC

Questions about Cambria’s history

What year was Cambria founded?

In 1904, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Cambria’s post office opened in 1905, and the census of 1910 counted 658 people here.

How does Cambria rank for history?

Cambria is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Cambria?

6% of Cambria’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1999.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (15), Wikipedia, 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.