Cambria, Wisconsin
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Cambria is a village in
Columbia County, Wisconsin Columbia County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 58,490. Its county seat and largest city is Portage, Wisconsin, Portage. The county ...
, United States. The population was 777 at the 2020 census, 767 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.


History

In 1844, two brothers, John and Samuel Langdon, settled on the site. Samuel P. Langdon built a
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
on a branch of Duck Creek, the other opened a small stock of merchandise. They surveyed and platted four blocks, and called the village Florence. But the mill dominated the landscape in those days, and the settlement around it was called Langdon's Mills. The settlement had just begun when about fifty Welshmen, with their wives and children, came from
North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...
, many from
Dolwyddelan Dolwyddelan ( ; ; ) is a village and Community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The community occupies most of the valley of the Afon Lledr, and contains the settlements of Dolwyddelan, Pentre Bont, Blaenau Dolwyddelan, and Po ...
. Morris J. Rowlands, a son of one of the colonists, wrote in 1912,
Early in the summer of 1845 several families from North Wales met accidentally at
Liverpool, England Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, c ...
, seeking passage as immigrants to the United States of America. On the 17th day of July they sailed from Liverpool harbor on board a sailing vessel named the Republic, and after a voyage of six weeks and two days arrived safely in New York City on the 30th of August, 1845.... After arriving in New York, a number of families whose male members were quarrymen in the old country, went to the
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
quarries of New York and
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...
, but the majority of them turned their faces 'Westward,' a word taken as their motto before leaving their native land. The next portion of the journey from New York to Albany was made on a
steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
. From Buffalo they took passage over the
lakes A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...
on board of a steamboat named Wisconsin, the name possibly being the means of drawing them to that particular boat; for that state was their 'promised land.' After a stormy voyage on the lakes they arrived at
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
, on the 16th day of September, where a portion of them landed, and on the 17th at Racine, where the remainder left the boat. On the 24th of September, having previously agreed upon them, Robert Closs, David D. Roberts, John R. Rowlands Sr., Evan Edwards and Jabez Lloyd left their families at the places mentioned, and were joined by E. B. Williams, William R. Williams, John O. Jones and John Edwards (single men). The party then started on foot in search of a suitable place on which to locate, traveling westward over the eastern part of the state, and passing through the village of Fox Lake, where a branch land office was located.... They entered into Columbia, then called Portage County, about four miles north of the present site of the village of Randolph, arriving foot-sore and weary on Saturday evening, September 27th.... ... ey continued their westward course until they came to a point on the Fox River near the center of Section 16, Township 13, Range 11. There they discontinued for the first time their westward course and turned south, passing over Portage Prairie.... After crossing Duck Creek the party entered South Prairie, to which they took quite a fancy, and after traveling over the land, examining the quality of the soil, locating the timber land and investigating the source of water supply, late in the afternoon they walked up to the highest point, which was about half a mile southwest of Zion's Church in Springvale, and there sat down on the green grass deliberating over the situation and comparing notes on the different localities through which they had passed during the week. Viewing the beautiful landscape before them and stretching in splendor for miles in every direction under the variable-colored rays of the setting sun, they deliberately decided to make that locality their place of future abode, hoping that they were thus forming a nucleus around which their countrymen in the future would gather to form a Welsh colony. After deciding on the location, they prepared to return, calling first at the Fox Lake land office to enter their claims. Then, returning to their families at Milwaukee and Racine, they immediately prepared to move onto their farms, coming over in covered emigrant wagons — 'prairie schooners' — and by the middle of October they were all on their places, housed in what people nowadays would call 'miserable shanties,' but to them, after their wearisome journey, they were 'comfortable homes.' Facing the winter of 1845–46, the settlement contained in round numbers, including children, fifty-three persons, composed of nine families and seven single men.
Cambria was described as, "an outpost of
Dolwyddelan Dolwyddelan ( ; ; ) is a village and Community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The community occupies most of the valley of the Afon Lledr, and contains the settlements of Dolwyddelan, Pentre Bont, Blaenau Dolwyddelan, and Po ...
", in an article published posthumously by
J. Glyn Davies John Glyn Davies (22 October 1870 – 11 November 1953) was a Welsh scholar, poet and songwriter, most of whose creative writing is in the Welsh language. His songs for children, often in the form of Sea shanty, sea shanties, remain very popular ...
, a descendant of
John Jones, Talysarn John Jones, Talysarn (1 March 1796 in Wales, 1796 – 16 August 1857 in Wales, 1857), was a Welsh people, Welsh John Calvin, Calvinistic Methodism, Methodist minister, regarded as one of the greatest preachers in the history of Wales. Because ...
, whose brothers and sisters had emigrated to Cambria. In the article, he records that as a young man in 1898, he had visited Cambria to meet his kindred and found it was still a Welsh-speaking community which maintained its links with
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. In 1848 the Langdons raised a frame for a
gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...
, but they had exhausted their means in their sawmill and store, and were unable to purchase the necessary machinery to operate it. In the spring of 1849 a Mr. Bell appeared and advanced money for that purpose, taking a mortgage upon the Langdon property as security. In consequence of nonpayment of the debt, the property passed into his hands, and the new owner surveyed and platted quite a large addition to the original site. In order to perpetuate his name he called the village Bellville. Bell continued to operate the mill until 1851, when he disposed of all his holdings to John Jones and Evan Edwards. However, the new proprietors of the village, as well as the Welshmen who had settled there, were not pleased with the name Bellville, and by them it was changed to
Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity) or the early medieval period. After the ...
, the Latin name for
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, probably on account of the Welsh settlers. The town was incorporated in 1866. Little growth was attained until the completion of the railroad through the place in 1857, and it has never had a rapid development. The Didion Milling Co. plant explosion killed five workers, injured 14 others and reduced the facility to rubble on May 31, 2017. The company was fined more than $1.8 million by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The company agreed in 2023 to plead guilty to federal charges that employees at the plant falsified logbooks inspectors use to determine whether the plant was handling corn dust safely and complying with dust-cleaning rules from 2015 until May 2017. At least seven employees have pleaded guilty or been convicted of charges including concealing environmental violations, lying to investigators and falsifying cleaning logs. The corn products were produced for food and beverage manufacturers that require sanitation for food safety as excessive accumulation of grain dust can cause food safety problems besides the explosion risk.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the village has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.


Demographics


2010 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 767 people, 301 households, and 201 families living in the village. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 342 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 91.7%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.8%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.1% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 6.4% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino people of any race were 12.1% of the population. There were 301 households, of which 38.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.2% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.14. The median age in the village was 35.7 years. 28.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.2% were from 25 to 44; 27.3% were from 45 to 64; and 10% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 51.2% male and 48.8% female.


2000 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 792 people, 307 households, and 195 families living in the village. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was 752 people per square mile (291.2/km2). There were 339 housing units at an average density of 321.9 per square mile (124.7/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 95.71%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.25%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.63% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 2.9% from other races, and 0.38% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino people of any race were 6.44% of the population. There were 307 households, out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.3. In the village, the population was spread out, with 30.1% under the age of 18, 8% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males. The median income for a household in the village was $38,750, and the median income for a family was $49,750. Males had a median income of $35,313 versus $22,109 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the village was $17,070. About 4.2% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 7.6% of those under age 18 and 9% of those age 65 or over.


Transportation

Cambria is at the end of a
Wisconsin and Southern Railroad The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad is a Class II regional railroad in Southern Wisconsin and Northeastern Illinois currently operated by Watco. It operates former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) and ...
branchline from Horicon.


Notable people

* W. R. Davies, second president (1941–1959) of the
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UW–Eau Claire, UWEC or simply Eau Claire) is a public university in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers Bachelor's degree, bachelor's and ...
* David R. Jones, architect * Davy Jones,
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
player for the Milwaukee Brewers/St. Louis Browns,
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
,
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
,
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
and the
Pittsburgh Rebels The Pittsburgh Rebels were a baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1913 to 1915. The team was a member of the short-lived Federal League. The team was originally called the Pittsburgh Stogies after an earlier Pittsburgh team tha ...
* Evan O. Jones, Wisconsin State Senator * William Owen, Wisconsin State Representative *
Samuel Owens Samuel Owens (April 23, 1856 – January 15, 1921) was an American architect, builder, and politician. Born in Cambria, Wisconsin, Owens was an architect and builder in Green Lake, Wisconsin. He served as Green Lake County, Wisconsin clerk ...
, Wisconsin State Representative * Edward D. Roberts,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
State Treasurer (1911–1915) * Edwin Myrwyn Rowlands, Wisconsin State Senator *
Gena Rowlands Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands (; June 19, 1930 – August 14, 2024) was an American actress, whose career in film, stage, and television spanned nearly seven decades. She was a four-time Emmy, Emmy Award and two-time Golden Globe winner, and ...
, actress * Victor W. Voorhees, architect


References


External links


Cambria, Wisconsin village website
* Sanborn fire insurance map
1914
{{authority control Villages in Columbia County, Wisconsin Villages in Wisconsin Welsh-American culture in Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin, metropolitan statistical area