Cambridge Nebraska

City · Furnas County · Population 1,071 (2020 census) · ZIP 69022 · Founded 1878 · Peak population 1,352 (1950)

About Cambridge

Cambridge is a city of 1,071, the largest in Furnas County, on the west bank of Medicine Creek near its junction with the Republican River. US 6 and US 34 run through town as Nasby Street, and NE 47 heads south from Patterson Street. It has Tri Valley Health System, Cambridge Public Schools, the Cambridge Museum and Cross Creek Golf Links.

History

Hiram Doing took up a homestead on the site in 1871, and a post office named Medicine Creek opened in 1873–74. J. W. Pickle built a saw and grist mill on the creek, finished in 1879, and in 1878 laid out a town he called Northwood; everyone called it Pickletown, and Scratchpot City was also proposed. When the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad reached the town in May 1880, the name became Cambridge, and the post office followed on August 3, 1880. The name may refer to Cambridge, Massachusetts, or Cambridge, England; a local story says it was suggested at Oxford, where the railroad had just named that town. After the railroad came, C. C. Messer built a brick hotel, and merchants including W. H. Faling, later the first chairman of the village board, opened stores. Cambridge incorporated in 1885.

Floods shaped the town. The 1935 Republican River flood covered nearly three-fourths of its homes, and high-water markers from 1936 are set in the sidewalk at Nasby and Patterson streets. On June 21–22, 1947, a cloudburst on Medicine Creek sent a wall of water through the valley and killed 13 people between Cambridge and Orleans. The Bureau of Reclamation then built the Cambridge Diversion Dam on the Republican (1947–49) and Medicine Creek Dam north of town (1948–49), which formed Harry Strunk Lake. The city's population peaked at 1,352 in 1950.

Things to see

The Cambridge State Aid Bridge, a five-span concrete arch of 1914 carrying NE 47 over the Republican River 0.6 mi south of town (National Register) · the W. H. Faling House, 606 Parker St., a 1909 Classical Revival house on the National Register, now the Cambridge Bed & Breakfast · the Cambridge Museum, 612 Penn St., May–October, Tuesday–Saturday 1–5 p.m. · Cross Creek Golf Links, 18 holes and 7,205 yards from the back tees · the pool and splash pad at McKinley Park and the city RV park · the Cambridge Diversion Dam WMA, 2 mi east · Medicine Creek State Recreation Area on Harry Strunk Lake, in Frontier County about 7 mi north-northwest (about 10 road miles), with 1,768 acres of water, cabins and campgrounds · Medicine Creek Days, the third weekend of June