DEEP HISTORY WITH UNIQUE CHARM.
Territories from the Town of Cambridge and the Town of White Creek merged giving birth to the Village of Cambridge. It is a 105-acre village when it was first incorporated in the 1860s and its subsequent development in the years the Rice Seed Company, largest in the world at the time, was located here. Many of the district's 240 Victorian style buildings date to the 19th century, with a few 18th-century structures and modern intrusions. Among its contributing properties are the Rice Seed Company's headquarters, a late Victorian opera house and a church with Tiffany interiors and stained glass windows. In 1978 it was designated a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1978, it included 198 contributing buildings and one other contributing site. On daily basis, art admirers and artist find inspiration of their art work in this nice rural community. The art sanctuary is the classical Hubbard Hall, Victorian Opera House inaugurated on the late 1800's. Families may practice several outdoors sports while camping at the most comfortable and inviting camping facilities. Hunters might also engage in exciting journey hunting after deer or turkeys.
Cambridge Station
VILLAGE HISTORY
The settlement of the future Cambridge village began in the 1760s, after the resolution of the French and Indian War had made it safe to settle in the previously contested frontier area north of Albany. In 1761, Cadwallader Colden, the colony's surveyor general and acting governor, was involved in the purchase of the Cambridge Patent, part of which was soon conveyed to a group of six partners, his son among them. The provisions of the purchase agreement required that governments be elected by the landowners, that one family for each 1,000 acres (400 ha) be settled and own land outright within the patent within three years, and that 200 acres (80 ha) be set aside for a minister and schoolmaster. These conditions made it possible for a democratic society of free landowners to develop on the patent.
Rice Manision Inn
The area was especially desirable for settlers because of the great extent of flat and arable terrain around the Owl Kill (although the creek could not be used for mills since it thus generated no power). Few records of the earliest settlement on the land exist because of the long dispute over the land between New York and neighboring Vermont. It is believed that many early settlers came from Scotland and Ireland, because of the early success of the Presbyterian churches in the village.
After the Revolution, settlement increased again. The earliest surviving house in the district, and the village, is the Dorr- Randall House on East Main Street, built in 1779. It is one of several proto-Federal style houses from this postwar period scattered around the district. An academy was organized in 1800. It no longer remains, but its boarding house on West Main has been converted into apartments.
As the 19th century progressed, three distinct settlements emerged within the area: Cambridge, Dorr Corners and North White Creek, all around crossroads. Early turnpikes connected them with markets to the south, near today's Troy, and at Burlington in the north. Flax and sheep farming were introduced, providing raw material for early textile mills in the nearby cities and small towns like Hoosick Falls and Bennington.
The Champlain Canal improved these connections in 1825. It provided enough of an economic stimulus that two new churches could be built: a Methodist church in 1838 (rebuilt in 1861) at 47 East Main, and the village's Baptist church, at 3 West Main, in 1844.[2]
Almost three decades later, in 1852, the Troy and Rutland Railroad was built through the town, and a station established at the center of the then-hamlet of North White Creek. Fourteen years later, the three decided to merge into the village of Cambridge. For this reason many of the village's streets intersect at odd angles, even today.[2]
The years that followed were the village's economic peak, as reflected by the mid-century architecture of most of its houses. Another church, St. Luke's, was built in the year of incorporation, with a Tiffany interior and windows. The railroad led to some industrial development, and the construction of Hubbard Hall at 25 West Main in 1878 reflected Cambridge's new importance. The strongest catalyst for development was the establishment of the Rice Seed Company's headquarters in the village in 1879. Its warehouse and accompanying office building, completed in 1895, are at 15 West Main. Founder Jerome Rice's home is across the street at 16 West Main.[2]
By the turn of the century, Rice was the largest seed company in the world, employing 200 people locally (currently the VARAK Park). Over the 20th century, changes in the national and regional economies adversely affected Cambridge. Traffic on the canal slowed down, and in the middle of the century the Adirondack Northway was opened to the west in Saratoga County, displacing the canal as the region's main transportation artery. Rice closed in 1976.[2]