Cambridge is a village and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Henry County, Illinois Henry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 2020 United States census, listed its population at 49,284. Its county seat is Cambridge. Henry County is included in the Davenport- Moline- Rock Island, IA-IL Metropolita ...

, United States. The population was 2,086 at the 2020 census.

History

After European-American settlement in this area and before 1843, Rev. Ithamar Pillsbury owned a large plot of land that was later developed as the town of Cambridge. He was well known among the numerous

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Their various meanings depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, the Northeastern United Stat ...

settlers (migrants from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

, who were largely descended from the English colonists in New England) who were migrating to Henry County at that time. Reverend Pillsbury deeded a large portion of his land to the town council for use as a town plot. Lots were sold to incoming migrants and on June 9, 1843 (after some quarreling among the town founders about how to finance it) construction began on the town. They laid out roads, established post routes, and erected public buildings to attract new residents. The original settlers were almost entirely of

origins or were

s from

, whose families had moved to that area in the period after the Revolutionary War. They were land hungry. As a result, Henry County was part of the Northern Tier, with its culture being closely aligned with that of upstate New York and early

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Cambridge has a total area of , of which (or 99.30%) is land and (or 0.70%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 2,086 people, 795 households, and 576 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 910 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 93.48%

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 ...

, 0.62%

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 ...

, 0.19% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 0.00%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.34% from other races, and 5.08% 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 of any race were 2.44% of the population. There were 795 households, out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.12% were married couples living together, 9.18% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.55% were non-families. 24.78% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.81% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 2.58. The village's age distribution consisted of 20.7% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.2 males. The median income for a household in the village was $66,250, and the median income for a family was $75,982. Males had a median income of $43,000 versus $20,114 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 $28,932. About 4.5% of families and 4.7% 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 6.0% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Court House

As the county seat of Henry County, Illinois, Cambridge hosts the county government. The Henry County Court House, designed by Thomas J. Tolan & Son, Architects, of

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

(1875–1878), is the key architectural landmark of the village. The courthouse was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2004.

Education

Cambridge has a single school district, School District #227, which includes a single elementary school, junior high (attached to the high school), and high school. The high school graduates around 50-60 students annually. As in many small towns, the cultural life of the community revolves around the arts and sports related to the school. The elementary school was selected as a 2006

Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

, part of the

No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States Act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provisio ...

. It was one of 18 selected in Illinois.

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and ...

2006 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools
Accessed February 22, 2007.

Links to Bishop Hill

Historically, Cambridge has been linked to nearby Bishop Hill, Illinois. This latter community was founded in 1846 by a sect of Swedish immigrants led by their prophet, Erik Janson. They had broken with the established Lutheran Church of Sweden, which did not tolerate much dissent. But for several years, local Americans and their Swedish neighbors traded and lived in peace. In 1850, Erik Janson was murdered by a former follower in the court house in Cambridge. The historic record reveals some tension between the Swedes in Bishop Hill and the residents of Cambridge. Also, the concentration of Swedish immigrants here attracted more of their countrymen to the Henry County area. As the population grew, they sought religious leadership from the established

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

, then an official branch of the Swedish government. Before fleeing from Sweden, Erik Janson and his followers had a contentious break from the Lutheran Church. The Cambridge Lutheran church was established as an offshoot of Lars Paul Esbjörn's Augustana Lutheran Church in nearby Andover, Illinois, and was in line with the established church. But religious-related tensions continued between the Augustana Lutherans (including Augustana College in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

) and the people of Bishop Hill well into the late 20th century. (For more information on Cambridge's relationship with Bishop Hill see Troy Swanson's "Those Crazy Swedes: Outside Influence on the Bishop Hill Colony" in ''Nobler things to View: Collected Essays on the Erik-Janssonists'', published by the Bishop Hill Heritage Association in 1998.)

Notable people

Dan Halldorson Daniel Albert Halldorson (April 2, 1952 – November 18, 2015) was a Canadian professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Canadian Tour. Early life Halldorson was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and raised in Brandon, Manitoba. Profess ...

, former PGA golfer * John P. Hand, Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court * John Hughes (lawman), Texas Ranger who was likely inspiration for

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

figure in fiction * George Allen Neeves, member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

* Brian Phelps 25-year radio host of Los Angeles-based ''Mark and Brian Show' * Charles F. Wennerstrum, lawyer and justice on the

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a chief justice and six associate justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 ...

* Kris Wexell National award winning radio host & radio programmer WYOT WRHL

References

External links

Cambridge official Web siteHenry County Official Web siteVillage President and Village Trustee's
{{authority control Villages in Henry County, Illinois County seats in Illinois Villages in Illinois