The Cambria Township post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Cambria (1841), Bankers (1872) and Cambria Mills (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,552185 years
How historic is Cambria Township?
B
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Cambria Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cambria Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cambria Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #303 of 701 in Michigan. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cambria Township’s overall grade.
Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cambria Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (32% of Michigan 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 C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was first settled as early as 1835 when John and Andrew McDermid built a sawmill. Other settlers arrived by 1837, and a post office opened on December 14, 1840. The post office was named Woodbridge after Michigan governor William Woodbridge. By the next year, the community and township was named Cambria after Cambria, New York, which was the hometown of many of the early settlers. The post office was also renamed Cambria on June 1, 1841, and operated until August 22, 1853. The community was platted in 1878. The nearby Cambria Mills post office opened on April 17, 1848. This post office was later renamed and transferred to Cambria on November 28, 1882, but later closed completely on September 17, 1906.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cambria Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1959Reading sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cambria Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Cambria Township
Nobody well known was born in Cambria Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Cambria Township post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cambria Township rank for history?
Cambria Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #303 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Township?
15% of Cambria Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1972.
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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