Cambridge is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Lamoille County,

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 ...

, United States. The population was 3,839 at the 2020 United States Census. Cambridge includes the villages of Jeffersonville and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

History

Granted on November 7, 1780, Cambridge was chartered on August 13, 1781, to Samuel Robinson, John Fassett Jr., Jonathan Frost and 64 others. It was first settled in 1783 by John Safford from

Piermont, New Hampshire Piermont is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 769 at the 2020 census. It is home to Camp Walt Whitman and Kingswood Camp for Boys. History Incorporated by Governor Benning Wentworth in 1764 and settled i ...

. The valleys proved good but rough, best for grazing livestock. By 1839, the town had about 7,000 sheep. The

Lamoille River The Lamoille River is a river which runs through northern Vermont and drains into Lake Champlain. It is about in length, and has a drainage area of around . The river generally flows southwest, and then northwest, from the water divide of the ...

offered water power for

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

s. Industries included one woolen factory, one

tannery Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Historically, vegetable based tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound derived fr ...

, and one

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 ...

, plus several sawmills and cabinet shops. Cambridge and neighboring

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

were together known as the

King's College Tract The King's College Tract was a area of forested land in the vicinity of the present towns of Cambridge and Johnson in the U.S. state of Vermont. The tract was granted in 1764 by Lieutenant Governor Cadwallader Colden of the New York crown colony, ...

, being created by Lieutenant Governor

Cadwallader Colden Cadwallader Colden (7 February 1688 – 28 September 1776) was an Irish-born physician, scientist and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New York from 1760 to 1762 and again from 1763 to 1765. Early life Colden was born on 7 F ...

by authority of King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

in 1764. The King's College Tract was reserved for the eventual establishment of a university on the site. The place name "Cambridge" suggests the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Johnson, the other town in the King's College Grant, was named for

William Samuel Johnson William Samuel Johnson (October 7, 1727 – November 14, 1819) was an American Founding Father and statesman. He attended all of the four founding American Congresses: the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, the Congress of the Confederation in 1785–1 ...

. Both the St. Johnsbury & Lake Champlain Railroad and the Burlington & Lamoille Railroad passed through the town. The former is now the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.

Geography

Cambridge is in western Lamoille County, bordered to the northwest by Franklin County and to the southwest by Chittenden County. The village of Jeffersonville is in the center of the town, and the village of Cambridge is in the west. 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 town has a total area of , of which are land and , or 0.78%, are water. Cambridge is drained by the

, which flows from east to west across the center of the town, passing through the north sides of Jeffersonville and Cambridge villages. Two main tributaries of the Lamoille drain the southern part of the town: the Brewster River originates in Smugglers Notch at the crest of the

Green Mountains The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont and are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Que ...

in the southernmost part of the town and flows north to Jeffersonville, while the Seymour River originates in Underhill and flows north to Cambridge village. The town is crossed by

Vermont Route 15 Vermont Route 15 (VT 15) is a east–west state highway in northern Vermont, United States. Its western terminus is at U.S. Route 2 (US 2) and US 7 in Winooski and its eastern terminus is at US 2 in Danville. It is known as t ...

Vermont Route 104 Vermont Route 104 (VT 104) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Vermont. The highway runs from VT 15 in Cambridge to VT 105 in the town of St. Albans. VT 104 is an L-shaped route that connects the city of St. Alb ...

Vermont Route 108 Vermont Route 108 (VT 108) is a north–south state highway in northern Vermont, United States. Its southern terminus is at Vermont Route 100, VT 100 in Stowe, Vermont, Stowe, and its northern terminus is at the Canada–United St ...

and Vermont Route 109. VT-15 leads southwest to Winooski, next to Burlington, and southeast to Morrisville. VT-104 leads northwest to

St. Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...

, while VT-108 leads north to Enosburg Falls and south through Smugglers Notch to Stowe. VT-109 leads northeast to Belvidere. (All distances are measured from Jeffersonville.)

Economy

The largest employer in the town is Smugglers' Notch Resort.

Demographics

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 3,186 people, 1,266 households, and 886 families residing in the town. 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 50.0 people per square mile (19.3/km²). There were 1,363 housing units at an average density of 21.4 per square mile (8.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.52%

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%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 0.56% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.06% from other races, and 2.48% 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 0.75% of the population. There were 1,266 households, out of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.3% 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, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.0% were non-families. 20.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.91. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 35.9% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $44,950, and the median income for a family was $49,274. Males had a median income of $35,264 versus $23,199 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 town was $20,527. About 2.9% of families and 5.2% 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 2.3% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

Sites of interest

Cambridge Junction Covered Bridge

Lamoille Valley Rail Trail

* Smugglers Notch * Smugglers' Notch Resort * Smugglers' Notch State Park

Notable people

* John Fassett Jr.,

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The court ...

justice, 1778–1786 * Bernie Juskiewicz, former Vermont state representative (2013–2019) and businessman * Anson D. Morse, educator and historian *

Lucy Wheelock Lucy Wheelock (February 1, 1857October 1, 1946) was an American early childhood education pioneer in the American kindergarten movement. She began her career by teaching the kindergarten program at Chauncy-Hall School (1879–89). Wheelock was th ...

, educator and

Wheelock College Wheelock College was a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The college was founded in 1888 as the Miss Wheelock's Kindergarten Training School and was merged into Boston University as part of the university's Boston Univer ...

founder * William C. Wilson, justice of the

References

External links

*
Cambridge Historical Society
{{authority control Towns in Vermont Towns in Lamoille County, Vermont