Cambridge History

By the early 1880s, homestead ranches began to appear in the upper Weiser Valley and the Seven Devils mine to the north was beginning to turn out both silver and copper. The president of the Pacific & Idaho Northern Railroad, Lewis Hall, was also the manager of the Boston & Seven Devils Copper Company, which looked as if it would, in time, get the railway transportation it needed as Hall extended the railroad north through Middle Valley.

If it weren’t for an overambitious resident of the neighboring town of Salubria, Cambridge would not be what it is today. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Pacific & Idaho Northern Railroad was planning to run its tracks through the town of Salubria, which was located across the river a couple miles east of where Cambridge sits today. As a right-of-way was negotiated with local landowners, one resident of Salubria, Mrs. Miller, held out for a high price. Across the river, however, Mose Hopper offered every other one of his lots if the Pacific & Idaho Northern Railroad would bring its tracks to the west side of the Weiser River. The Railroad agreed, sinking the town of Salubria and handing Cambridge a prosperous future. To thank the Pacific & Idaho Northern Railroad’s president, the name “Lewisville” was originally proposed for the town, an idea the postal department rejected. Instead, the town of Cambridge was named after the location of Harvard University, Lewis Hall’s alma mater.

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