Cambridge, Ohio

Cambridge, Ohio
—  City  —
Downtown Cambridge in 2008
Location of Cambridge, Ohio
Coordinates: 40°1′30″N 81°35′12″W
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Guernsey
Townships	Cambridge, Jackson
Government
• Mayor	Tom Orr
Area
• Total	5.6 sq mi (14.5 km2)
• Land	5.6 sq mi (14.5 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	830 ft (253 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	11,520
• Density	2,055.1/sq mi (793.5/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	43725, 43750
Area code(s)	740
FIPS code	39-10996
GNIS feature ID	1058167
Website	http://www.cambridgeoh.org/

Guernsey County Courthouse

Cambridge is a city in and the county seat of Guernsey County, Ohio, United States. It lies in southeastern Ohio, in the Appalachian Plateau of the Appalachian Mountains. The population was 11,129 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Cambridge Micropolitan Statistical Area. Cambridge is well-known among glass collectors as being the location for the Cambridge Glass, Boyd Glass and Mosser Glass plants. The Cambridge area is also famous for its "S" shaped bridges, dating back to the building of the National Road in 1828. It is located adjacent to the intersection of Interstates 70 and 77, which the Ohio Department of Transportation proclaimed in 1969 to be the world's largest interchange in terms of land area.

History

In 1796, Col. Ebenezer Zane received funds to blaze a road suitable for travel by horse through the Ohio wilderness from a point on the Ohio River opposite Wheeling, Virginia (now Wheeling, West Virginia) to another point opposite Maysville, Kentucky. Where this road, known as Zane's Trace, crossed Wills Creek, a ferry was established in 1798. This was followed by the first bridge authorized by the legislature of the Northwest Territory, built in 1803. The land on which part of Cambridge stands was granted to Zaccheus Biggs and Zaccheus Beatty by the government in 1801. A settlement grew up at the creek crossing. The town of Cambridge was platted there in 1806. Both Cambridge, Maryland and Cambridge, Massachusetts have been speculated by historians as having inspired the naming of the town. Also in 1806, another group of early settlers from the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel pitched camp in Cambridge, reportedly because the women in the party refused to move on. The county for which Cambridge serves as the county seat was later named in honor of its many settlers from Guernsey.

In 1828, the federally built National Road came through Cambridge. The first railroad arrived in 1854.

The Cambridge, Ohio area experienced massive flooding in late June 1998.

Tom Orr is the current Mayor of Cambridge. He replaced Sam Salupo.

President of Council is William Cowgill, who replaces former mayor Charles Schaub, who replaced Fred Shimp.

Geography

Cambridge is located along Wills Creek.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.6 square miles (15 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1850	1,041		—
1860	1,452		39.5%
1870	2,193		51.0%
1880	2,883		31.5%
1890	4,361		51.3%
1900	8,241		89.0%
1910	11,327		37.4%
1920	13,104		15.7%
1930	16,129		23.1%
1940	15,044		−6.7%
1950	14,739		−2.0%
1960	14,652		−0.6%
1970	13,656		−6.8%
1980	13,450		−1.5%
1990	11,748		−12.7%
2000	11,520		−1.9%
Est. 2008	11,192		−2.8%

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,520 people, 4,924 households, and 2,954 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,055.1 people per square mile (792.9/km²). There were 5,585 housing units of an average density of 996.3 per square mile (384.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.84% White, 3.91% African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.47% from other races, and 2.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.96% of the population.

There were 4,924 households out of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18, 39.2% were married couples living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.92.

The population of the city was spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 85.8 males and every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 79.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $24,102, and the median income for a family was $30,780. Males had a median income of $26,368 versus $20,596 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,452. About 18.1% of families and 21.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.5% of those under age 18 and 12.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Peters Creek S bridge.

• Cambridge City Schools site
• St. Benedict School site

Attractions

• Salt Fork State Park and Lodge, home of the biggest inland beach in Ohio.
• Salt Fork Lake
• Seneca Lake
• Georgetown Vineyards
• Pritchard-Laughlin Civic Center
• The Wilds, a natural wildlife preserve
• The Living Word, an annual Passion Play
• Ragnarok, the largest Dagorhir event in the country, which occurs in late June at the Spring Valley campground
• Salt Fork Arts and Crafts Festival, Arts festival held annually in the city park around August

Notable residents

• William Boyd - actor
• Dom Capers - defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers former defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers, also the first head coach of the NFL Houston Texans and first head coach of the NFL Carolina Panthers
• Doug Donley - former wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears
• Tom Eyen - American experimental playwright, lyricist, and theatre director, author of Dreamgirls for which he won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical
• Geno Ford - Former Ohio Mr. Basketball, Ohio University player and coach; current Bradley University basketball head coach
• John Glenn - U.S. Senator and astronaut; first American to orbit Earth
• Kevin Ritz - former pitcher for the MLB Detroit Tigers and Colorado Rockies
• William Oxley Thompson - fifth president of the Ohio State University
• Scott Watkins - concert pianist, Artistic Ambassador for US State Department in 1980s
• Tony Davis - venture capitalist and web retailer..one of the initial investors in ebay.

External links

• Popular Cambridge news and information website
• City website
• Cambridge City Schools
• Reference to 1969 ODOT map
• The Daily Jeffersonian
• Cambridge newspaper refuses gay couple's wedding notice (2010)
• Living Word Passion Play