Cambridge is a city in Isanti County,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

, United States, located at the junction of Minnesota State Highways 65 and 95. The population was 9,611 at the 2020 census. It is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

of Isanti County. It is located along the

Rum River The Rum River is a slow, meandering stream that connects Minnesota's Mille Lacs Lake with the Mississippi River. It runs for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 5, 2 ...

and BNSF's Hinckley Subdivision. Cambridge is notable for having the highest percentage of

Swedish American Swedish Americans ( sv, svenskamerikaner) are Americans of Swedes, Swedish ancestry. They include the 1.2 million Swedish immigrants during 1865–1915, who formed tight-knit communities, as well as their descendants and more recent immigrants. ...

s of any city in the United States with a population of over 5,000 people.

History

The city of Cambridge was established in the late 19th century along the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

from

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

. It was named by, and originally settled by, immigrants from

New England New England is a region comprising 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 to the west and by the Canadian province ...

. These were "

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United St ...

" settlers, that is to say they were descended from the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

who settled

during the colonial era. The same population founded and named the town of

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

nearby. Later on the surrounding area would be heavily populated with Swedish, and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, immigrants. The city of Cambridge was incorporated in 1877. In the early 20th century, Cambridge had a

potato starch Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain leucoplasts (starch grains). To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, and the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells. T ...

factory, a 1,301-barrel

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

, a

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

carding and spinning mill, an electric lighting plant, and local and long-distance

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into el ...

systems. The Cambridge station served passenger trains until 1985.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy An economy is an area of th ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The

flows north to south through the middle of Cambridge. Camping, canoeing, and fishing are popular attractions of the Rum River.

Major highways

The following routes are located within the city of Cambridge. *

Minnesota State Highway 65 Minnesota State Highway 65 (MN 65) is a highway in the east–central and northeast parts of the U.S. state of Minnesota, which starts at its split from I-35W, skipping past the downtown Minneapolis core, only to resume at the intersection with ...

Minnesota State Highway 95 Minnesota State Highway 95 (MN 95) is a highway in east-central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 23 near St. Cloud and continues east and south to its southern terminus at its intersection with U.S. Highways 61 / ...

Climate

Cambridge has a warm-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

, with the average July temperature being just below the isotherm for the hot-summer subtype. Temperature differences between summer and winters are large, typical of the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referrin ...

. Spring and fall are rather short due to the extreme warming and cooling off depending on daylight hours. Winter is relatively long and cold, but cools off later and heats up earlier than more northerly areas of the state. The warm to hot summers are also typical of central Minnesota and tend to bring more precitipation than during winter. June is the wettest month with on average. The dry winter contributes to snowfall on average being limited to .

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2010, there were 8,111 people, 3,137 households, and 1,967 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

was . There were 3,426 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.5%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 1.0%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.5% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 1.7% of the population. There were 3,137 households, of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.3% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.08. The median age in the city was 34.1 years. 26.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.5% were from 25 to 44; 19.5% were from 45 to 64; and 17.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.4% male and 52.6% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 5,520 people, 2,237 households, and 1,353 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 2,373 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.21%

, 0.31%

, 0.67% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

, 0.25% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.63% of the population. 24.7% were of Swedish, 24.6%

, 14.6% Norwegian and 5.1% Irish ancestry according to

Census 2000 The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 c ...

. There were 2,237 households, out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.5% were

living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families. 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.95. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.9% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 23.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,313, and the median income for a family was $53,381. Males had a median income of $34,836 versus $23,681 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $20,697. About 5.8% of families and 10.5% 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 8.6% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Cambridge is a local commercial center. The recently expanded Cambridge Medical Center serves as the regional health care center. It contains several traditional big-box retail stores, including Target, Wal-Mart, Kohl's, Mills FleetFarm and Menard's.

Education

Cambridge-Isanti High School, Cambridge Middle School, Cambridge Intermediate School, and Cambridge Primary School serve the community. Two new schools, Cambridge Middle School and Isanti Intermediate School, were built in the fall of 2006 to house the expanding school population. Cambridge Christian School, founded in 1978, has new facilities in the city of Cambridge. Cambridge is also home to the Cambridge campus of Anoka-Ramsey Community College.

Notable people

Lynn H. Becklin Lynn H. Becklin (born September 1, 1932) was an American politician. Becklin was born in Cambridge, Isanti County, Minnesota and graduated from Cambridge High School Cambridge High School may refer to: In the United States *Cambridge High Sc ...

- politician *

Robert C. Becklin Robert C. Becklin (May 17, 1926 – August 10, 2012) was an American businessman and politician. Becklin was born in Braham, Minnesota. He lived in Cambridge, Minnesota and graduated from Cambridge High School. Becklin served in the United State ...

- politician and businessman * Mickey Erickson - professional football player for

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ...

and

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

Godfrey G. Goodwin Godfrey Gummer Goodwin (January 11, 1873 – February 16, 1933) was a Representative from Minnesota. Early life He was born Alfred Gustafson near St. Peter, Nicollet County, Minnesota, to a single mother, Cecilia Carlson (née Sissa Carlsdot ...

- former member of the U.S. House of Representatives * Todd Hallowell - film producer * Julia Hart - professional wrestler * Kerri Hoskins - former glamour model and video game actress *

Brian Johnson Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Ro ...

- politician * Rhonda Sivarajah - politician * Corie Barry - CEO of

Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...

References

External links

City websiteIndependent School District #911 - LinkCambridge Swedish Festival
{{authority control Cities in Minnesota Cities in Isanti County, Minnesota County seats in Minnesota