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History · Cambridge

Cambridge’s post office opened in 1834, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1933 on and the census since 1840.

1834first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cambridge began

When was Cambridge founded?

1834

The Cambridge post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, North Ripley (1828) and Webber (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 461 in 18402020 census: 443192 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.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Cambridge.Deep rootsA post office since 1834: 192 years of Cambridge.
★ 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.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Cambridge’s post office has been open since 1834. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

North Ripley
1828–1834
Cambridge
1834–today
Webber
1898–1904
18201920today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cambridge
Cambridge Memorial GardenMount Pleasant

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

Timeline

Cambridge, 1828 to 1933

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe North Ripley post office opens
  3. 1834Post officeThe North Ripley post office closes
  4. 1834Post officeThe Cambridge post office opens
  5. 1849Born hereCharles Cassius Rogers is born here
  6. 1898Post officeThe Webber post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1904Post officeThe Webber post office closes
  9. 1933On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Cambridge came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cambridge.

Read it all →

Cambridge was originally part of Ripley, Maine. It was so named by a young girl studying in England. "Bunker" was the original family.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Cambridge, decade by decade

Today3 recent
CambridgeME MasonicHall2022CambridgeME MasonicHallCambridgeME FormerChurch2022CambridgeME FormerChurchCambridgeME BaptistChurch2022CambridgeME BaptistChurch
On the map

Cambridge on the map, 1933 to 1984

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 1933 USGS mapCambridge on the 1984 USGS map1933Guilford 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.

People over time

Cambridge, census by census

01002003004005001850190019502000Peak: 516

Between 281 and 516 people in every census since 1840.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

RipleyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWellingtonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townParkmanIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHarmonyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cambridge’s history

What year was Cambridge founded?

The Cambridge post office opened in 1834, 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 →
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 (3), 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.