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History · Cambridge

Cambridge’s post office opened in 1880, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 1880.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Art davis · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Cambridge began

When was Cambridge founded?

1880

The Cambridge post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 98 in 18802020 census: 92146 years
Founding year: the first Cambridge post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Cambridge’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Cambridge are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18893 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1985. Watch Cambridge change.Boom and bustPeaked at 277 in 1930; 92 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Cambridge’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · 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
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Cambridge on the map, 1889 to 1985

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 1889 USGS mapCambridge on the 1962 USGS mapCambridge on the 1985 USGS map1889Burden sheet · 1:125,000

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

People over time

Cambridge, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 277

Peaked at 277 in 1930; 92 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Cambridge came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cambridge.

Read it all →

Like many communities in Kansas, Cambridge owes its existence to a railroad. When the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Railroad was built a mile south of Lazette, a new site was organized by Benjamin H. Clover and plotted on May 3, 1880, and it was named Cambridge after Cambridge University, in England. The first post office in Cambridge was established on January 30, 1880.

On December 15, 1880, the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway acquired nearly all the stock of the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Railroad and operated the railroad awhile as the Southern Kansas Railroad. Cambridge was a station and shipping point on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cambridge, 1880 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Cambridge post office opens
  3. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 277
By decade

Cambridge, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Cambridge IOOF2015Cambridge IOOFMap of Cowley Co, Ks, USA2005Map of Cowley Co, Ks, USAMap

Questions about Cambridge’s history

What year was Cambridge founded?

The Cambridge post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.