Cambria Township’s post office opened in 1870, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #409 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 539 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1902 on.
From Cambria Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Cambria Township began
When was Cambria Township founded?
1870
The Cambria Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Beula (1805) and Cambria (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 5,814156 years
How historic is Cambria Township?
B+
More historic than 74% 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 74% of U.S. towns, #409 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cambria Township’s overall grade.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cambria Township’s 935 sits above most of its state (97% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 539 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 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.
Welsh Baptist Minister Morgan John Rhys founded Beula in 1796. His vision was to establish a "gwladfa" (Welsh-speaking colony) for nonconformist sects of the time, such as Quakers and Baptists, where religion could be practiced in Welsh. In order to do this Rhys founded the Cambrian Company and purchased 17,400 acres (70 km2) of land, 250 miles (400 km) west of Philadelphia from Dr. Benjamin Rush for £ 9,450. The land was thought to be well located between the Blacklick and Conemaugh rivers. It was the first Welsh settlement in the United States.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cambria Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Ebensburg 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 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.
Retake this viewCambria Iron Works, 1860
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cambria Township’s page.
The Cambria Township post office opened in 1870, 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 74% of U.S. towns, #409 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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 Cambria Township?
Two places: the Colver Historic District (listed 1994) and the Revloc Historic District (1995).
How old are the homes in Cambria Township?
15% of Cambria Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
2021
2018
