Cambridge

History

Like many communities in Kansas, Cambridge owes its existence to a railroad. When the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Railroad was built a mile south of Lazette, a new site was organized by Benjamin H. Clover and plotted on May 3, 1880, and it was named Cambridge after Cambridge University, in England. The first post office in Cambridge was established on January 30, 1880. On December 15, 1880, the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway acquired nearly all the stock of the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Railroad and operated the railroad awhile as the Southern Kansas Railroad. Cambridge was a station and shipping point on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The Cambridge Public Emergency Radio Tower was mooted as the location for one of two "control stations" of the Decision Information Distribution System, which would be used to alert the public of an enemy attack (the other was to have been in Ault, Colorado.) The control stations would send the "go" signal to ten distribution stations across the country that would then sign on and play taped messages to the public.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Cambridge is located on US Route 160 at State Highway 7. The community is located 45 miles southeast of Wichita. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Cambridge has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  98
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  92
• Eastern Meadowlark

  Sturnella magna (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  85
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  84
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  83
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  75
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  72
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  67

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2025-12-26
  5 km SSW of Peru, Kansas
• M 3.36 — 2025-06-26
  4 km SE of Braman, Oklahoma
• M 2.6 — 2025-03-25
  5 km S of Milton, Kansas
• M 2.54 — 2023-11-14
  6 km NNW of Marland, Oklahoma
• M 2.67 — 2022-10-13
  8 km WSW of Hunnewell, Kansas
• M 2.71 — 2022-08-16
  8 km WSW of Hunnewell, Kansas