Cambridge Museum

05/19/2026

05/09/2026

Bicycle weather! Get out and enjoy it, stop by the museum for a break! We are now open summer hours 1:00pm - 5:00pm, Tuesdays through Sundays.

-Photograph: unknown child with bicycle.

05/02/2026

Continuing on a Lake Lavonia note, it seems as though Cambridge was not the only town that created and eventually lost a lake. Lake Lavonia was created in a similar way to Lake Maywood, the need for water power to make flour brought about both through damming a creek. These mill dams with their lakes brought about a place of merriment, relaxation, events, and much more. This article was taken from the December 1991 Frontier County Historical Society newsletter.

If you are into Frontier County history, we have just received a generous donation of Frontier County newsletters from 30+ years ago. More than enough to keep an avid reader busy all summer. Thank you to Arlene Palmer and Jan Allen fore this donation!

04/25/2026

Lake Lavonia enthusiasts! Here is a tidbit unexpectedly happened upon while looking for something fully unrelated in the Cambridge digitized newspapers. Could this be the big clue needed to understand the origins of the name of Cambridge's Lake Lavonia?

04/04/2026

ATTENTION: The Cambridge Museum will be CLOSED tomorrow, April 5th. Enjoy the beautiful weather and have a great Easter!

Photo is from late 1980's/early 1990's(?). Taken looking southeast from the Cambridge water tower. Anyone see their house?

02/17/2026

It's pancake feed season in Cambridge! Tonight from 5PM to 7PM (or maybe as long as you can keep eating pancakes) at the Congregational Church, and Sunday Feb. 22nd from 5:30PM to 7:00PM at St. John's Catholic Church. The Catholic Church pancake feed is a community benefit for our Senior Center.

Interior photos of the old churches, before the current ones we know and love today, taken from the Cambridge Centennial book.

02/15/2026

Seeking some community assistance today! This issue, involving the Orafino school, was brought up to us by the Cambridge 4th grade class. On the 1905 plat map of Frontier County, a school appears to be located at the northeast corner of Section 11. Looking at the 1948 plat map, the Orafino school as remembered by many to be the location is located at the southwest corner of section twelve, roughly a mile difference.
Was the school at one time located further north? Or was that location a one room schoolhouse before the Orafino school was built? Maybe there was an error on the 1905 map?
Let us know if you have any information!

Following up on this subject, it greatly saddens us to find that we have lost an Orafino aficionado and friend, Ed Kester. He passed away this last week, our thoughts are with his family. Ed was a wealth of information and a supporter of the museum that we will greatly miss!

02/01/2026

Warmer days on the way! To celebrate a bit of a break from the frigid cold, here is a rare photo of Lake Lavonia, the lake that helped shape Cambridge before the Harry Strunk Lake. If you squint a bit, just left of center on the horizon you can make out a few buildings.

01/24/2026

ATTENTION!: The Cambridge Museum will be CLOSED today (January 24th) due to the exceedingly cold temperatures. Stay safe and stay warm! We do plan to be open tomorrow afternoon at the regular time from 1PM to 5PM.

In the meantime, here is a Cambridge Easter egg that will surely get some of you thinking. We would like to know how many of you recognize this tiny plaque. It's easy to miss! Surprising it has hung on for 120+ years now. Do you happen to know where it is? Consulting a platt map before answering is considered cheating!

01/17/2026

Stay warm! And look forward to less wind! That is all we can say for today.

Attached photo, likely early 1900's, comes from Ellingson Photography of Cambridge. The children are unknown, on the back of the photo is written in pencil: "To Eula". Any thoughts of who they could be? Let us know!

01/11/2026

ANNOUNCEMENT!: We have the results from the Christmas Tree decorating contest! This year the winner, by a clear margin, was The China Painters! Congratulations! 2nd place was taken by the PEO Club, and there was a tie for 3rd between 4-H Silver Spurs and Cambridge TeamMates.
Thank you for all the hard work and helping beautify the museum this season!

We will leave you with something that may signify warmer weather ahead... sometime... and hopefully without so much water! Three men can be seen observing a deluge of water passing through what we believe is likely to be the dam for the Cambridge Mill and Lake Lavonia.
Although most remember the 1935 and 1947 floods, due to their severity, Cambridge had a history of numerous flood issues before this. In 1911, a noted flood occurred during the Cambridge Chautauqua celebration delivering 5 inches of water that forced campers and some residents out of the park and surrounding area. Not deadly, but certainly unpleasant; scattering the park with debris and a good layer of mud. People's celebratory moods were likely soured at least a little.