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AHistory
History · Cambridge Township

Cambridge Township dates to 1798, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #91 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

10 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 24 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1840.

1798founded
10on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
24old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cambridge Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cambridge Township began

When was Cambridge Township founded?

1798

Cambridge Township dates its founding to 1798 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1840.

First census: 766 in 18402020 census: 13,900228 years

How historic is Cambridge Township?

A

More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1807.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Cambridge Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cambridge Township is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #91 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cambridge Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1798, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194026.3% of homes (±3.8) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register10 listings, 82 historic buildings, 59.4 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 94%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 91%

Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cambridge Township’s 59.4 sits above most of its state (90% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 82 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). Two sources give 1798.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Cambridge Township’s past

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

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Cambridge Township, and 14 old place names are still on the map.A town in postcards24 old photos, postcards and papers, 1904–1995.Boom and bustPeaked at 16,129 in 1930; 10,089 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19095 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1993. Watch Cambridge Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Oldham, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
AbledellBlackCedar HillsCoventry EstatesEastmoorFairdaleFairmontFive ForksGeorgetownHenderson HeightsJackson SpecialNorthgateOldhamSunnymeade
Gone or out of use
Barnes MilllocaleBarr SchoolschoolOldham Post Officepost officePleasant Valley SchoolschoolSherrard SchoolschoolSlaughter Hill Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cambridge Township
Center BaptistGuernsey County Memory GardensMount CalvarySigman

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

By decade

Cambridge Township, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s11 items
Carnegie Library1904Carnegie LibraryCentral High School1905Central High SchoolCounty Court House1905County Court HouseDown by the Creek1905Down by the CreekDouble wooden bridge of the natural road at Cambridge, Ohio1906Double wooden bridge of the natural road at Cambridge…Central National Bank Bldg1908Central National Bank BldgPostcardCentral National Bank Bldg1908Central National Bank BldgPostcardCarnegie Library1909Carnegie LibraryPostcardCarnegie Library1909Carnegie LibraryPostcardPanorama of Business Section1909Panorama of Business SectionPostcardPanorama of Business Section1909Panorama of Business SectionPostcard
1910s8 items
Childrens Home, Cambridge, Ohio1910Childrens Home, Cambridge, OhioPostcardChildrens Home, Cambridge, Ohio1910Childrens Home, Cambridge, OhioPostcardGuernsey County Court House and Soldiers Monument, Cambridge, Ohio1910Guernsey County Court House and Soldiers Monument, Ca…PostcardGuernsey County Court House and Soldiers Monument, Cambridge, Ohio1910Guernsey County Court House and Soldiers Monument, Ca…PostcardView West from Court House1910View West from Court HousePostcardLyric Theater1910Lyric TheaterOld bridge in Crooked Creek1910Old bridge in Crooked CreekOne of the early hotels on National Road1910One of the early hotels on National Road
1930s–1950s3 items
Harry's Motel, U.S. Route 40, east Cambridge, Ohio (85653)c. 1930Harry's Motel, U.S. Route 40, east Cambridge, Ohio (8…PostcardParkview Motel (85655)c. 1930Parkview Motel (85655)PostcardVanadium Corporation of America Research Center pamphletc. 1954Vanadium Corporation of America Research Center pamph…
1960s–1980snothing 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
1990s2 items
Historic National Road - Path to Peters Creek S-Bridge1995Historic National Road - Path to Peters Creek S-BridgeHistoric National Road - Peters Creek S-Bridge1995Historic National Road - Peters Creek S-Bridge
People over time

Cambridge Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,0001850190019502000Peak: 16,129

Peaked at 16,129 in 1930; 10,089 people lived here in 2020.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

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

The story

How Cambridge Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cambridge Township.

Read it all →

In 1796, Col. Ebenezer Zane received funds to blaze a road suitable for travel by horse through the Ohio wilderness from a point on the Ohio River opposite Wheeling, Virginia (now Wheeling, West Virginia) to another point opposite Maysville, Kentucky. Where this road, known as Zane's Trace, crossed Wills Creek, a ferry was established in 1798. This was followed by the first bridge authorized by the legislature of the Northwest Territory, built in 1803. The land on which part of Cambridge stands was granted to Zaccheus Biggs and Zaccheus Beatty by the government in 1801. A settlement grew up at the creek crossing. The town of Cambridge was platted there in 1806. Both Cambridge, Maryland and Cambridge, Massachusetts have been speculated by historians as having inspired the naming of the town. Also in 1806, another group of early settlers from the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel pi…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Cambridge Township in 1911

Passages that mention Cambridge Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

for California, by the overland route: Jeremiah Jefferson. Cambridge; Milton Jefferson. Cambridge : Franklin Jefferson, Cambridge ; Josiah Morgan, Cambridge: Thomas Bryan, Cambridge: John Morrow, Cambridge; Andrew Cowen, Cambridge Township ; John Black, Cambridge Township :
History of Guernsey County, Ohio1911 · page 368Read the page →
Read the text

for California, by the overland route: Jeremiah Jefferson. Cambridge; Milton Jefferson. Cambridge : Franklin Jefferson, Cambridge ; Josiah Morgan, Cambridge: Thomas Bryan, Cambridge: John Morrow, Cambridge; Andrew Cowen, Cambridge Township ; John Black, Cambridge Township :

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Cambridge Township, 1798 to 1995

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1798
    FoundingCambridge Township is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1875Post officeThe Oldham post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901Post officeThe Oldham post office closes
  7. 1904In the archiveCarnegie Library
  8. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1910In the archiveChildrens Home, Cambridge, Ohio
  10. 1930In the archiveHarry's Motel, U.S. Route 40, east Cambridge, Ohio (85653)
  11. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 16,129
  12. 1954In the archiveVanadium Corporation of America Research Center pamphlet
  13. 1995In the archiveHistoric National Road - Path to Peters Creek S-Bridge
On the map

Cambridge Township on the map, 1909 to 1993

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

Cambridge Township on the 1909 USGS mapCambridge Township on the 1912 USGS mapCambridge Township on the 1962 USGS mapCambridge Township on the 1972 USGS mapCambridge Township on the 1993 USGS map1909Cambridge 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 Township.

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.

Carnegie Library
Retake this viewCarnegie Library, 1904

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

10 listings protect 82 historic buildings

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

places listed
10
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
82
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Peter B. Sarchet House
Peter B. Sarchet HouseBroom-Braden Stone House
Buildings
Peter B. Sarchet HouseBuilding
Broom-Braden Stone HouseBuilding

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

Help out

Finish Cambridge Township’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
5 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCarnegie Library: 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.

Jackson TownshipIts storyB−Center Township1 historic placeBLiberty TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCambridge8 historic placesA+Adams Township2 historic placesB−ByesvilleIts storyB+Westland Township2 historic placesB+

Questions about Cambridge Township’s history

What year was Cambridge Township founded?

In 1798, according to Wikidata. Cambridge Township’s post office opened in 1807, and the census of 1840 counted 766 people here.

How does Cambridge Township rank for history?

Cambridge Township is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #91 of 993 in Ohio. 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.

What is on the National Register in Cambridge Township?

10 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Peter B. Sarchet House (listed 1979, the first). 82 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Cambridge Township?

26% of Cambridge Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1959.

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 (16), the Library of Congress (8), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.