THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE was created on January 1, 1973 when the municipalities of Galt, Hespeler, and Preston, including the hamlet of Blair, amalgamated with parts of the Townships of North Dumfries and Waterloo to form a thriving and diverse new community. While Cambridge dates only from 1973, the city’s history is much older than that, starting in 1800 when Mennonite settlers from Pennsylvania arrived in the Blair area. These original settlers were soon followed by still other Mennonites, including John Erb, who built the area’s first saw and flour mills in an area first called Cambridge Mills.  The village that grew up around the mills was later to become the town of Preston.

The settlement of Galt had an origin somewhat different from that of Preston. Galt was founded in 1816 by William Dickson, a prominent businessman who had originally come to Canada from the lowlands of Scotland. With the assistance of his primary agent Absalom Shade, Mr. Dickson set out to populate his new townsite and the surrounding area with settlers from his home township of Dumfries. The initial efforts of Mr. Dickson and Mr. Shade achieved mixed results and it wasn’t until the 1830s that the settlement began to develop into an economic power in the area. It was at this same time, about 1832, that the settlement of Hespeler got its start when Mennonite pioneer Michael Bergey built a house and a saw mill along the Speed River. The hamlet was first known as Bergeytown, then New Hope, but was renamed Hespeler, in 1859, in honour of Jacob Hespeler, the village’s most prominent and prosperous citizen.

While details of the origins of Cambridge’s founding communities varied, the leaders in each of the settlements shared a positive belief in the importance of manufacturing to develop the local economies. Cambridge continues to recognize the importance of the region’s manufacturing sector and encourages the growth of both traditional and high tech industries. At the same time the city’s heritage takes a prominent place in any vision of the future. Cambridge celebrates the uniqueness of its founding communities and is united by its heritage, rivers, and common future. The city, as a community of opportunity, encourages business growth, entrepreneurial spirit, strong leadership, and civic pride.

This entrepreneurial spirit and civic pride have consistently attracted people from all parts of the world. Our earliest settlers came to Cambridge from the British Isles and Northern Europe, notably Germany and Switzerland. Beginning in the 1950s, Cambridge became home to a large Portuguese-speaking population and, more recently, to a number of immigrants fleeing the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. It is peace and prosperity they seek and find in abundance in Cambridge.