April 22, 1902
A lot has been written about Salubria and the original settling of the Upper Weiser Valley, or Salubria Valley as it came to be known, but not much has been written about the town of Cambridge, which was born as Salubria was dying.
The railroad is the whole reason for there being a Cambridge, Idaho.
On December 29, 1899, the big day finally arrived, the railroad arrived at Cambridge. The road was completed, as the railroad bed and tracks were called. The event was big news. Here’s the story from the local paper -
Salubria Citizen (It is now called The Record Reporter)- January 5th, 1900
MOSES HOPPER DRIVES THE GOLDEN SPIKE RAILROAD COMPLETED TO CAMBRIDGE
FRIDAY DEC. 29th, 1899
THE BUILDING OF THE RAILROAD TO SALUBRIA VALLEY
Early Friday morning the train could be seen from Cambridge and word was sent over to Salubria that the track would be completed to town by 4pm. Quite a number of Salubrian’s went over to witness the ceremony of spike driving. A crew of about 20 Japanese were strung out a distance of about ¼ of a mile, some clearing snow off the roadbed, others placing ties into position, then came the push-car drawn by horses, which scattered the iron, which was followed by track layers. In about 2 hours at least 1/8 of a mile was laid. When the rails had been laid to a point near the depot site, the crowd gathered at the end of the track with Moses Hopper in the front, where he set the “Golden Spike” in the last tie and shouldering the spike maul, posed for a picture, then sent the spike into the tie and the railroad was completed to Cambridge. The engineer blew the whistle, and the crowd cheered, waved hats and handkerchiefs and several (illegible - charges?) of giant powder were set off. This ended the ceremony of the completion of the P.I.N. railroad into Salubria Valley which was the birth of Cambridge and the death knoll of our lovely town of Salubria.
Leading up to this occasion many businesses saw the writing on the wall, picked up stakes and moved over to the new town. This even included the local newspaper.
Salubria Citizen - March 23rd, 1900
“The next issue of the Citizen will be published at Cambridge, and the paper will hereafter be known as the ‘Salubria Valley Citizen’.”
The Village of Cambridge was officially incorporated on April 22, 1902. This is Cambridge’s Birthday!
The Jewell Building is one of the earliest commercial buildings constructed after the founding of Cambridge in 1900. Originally the property was owned by Moses Hopper, and the Jewell Building was constructed in 1905. The buildings at that time were all timber frame with wood siding supplied by the local mill.
The Fred M. Jewell Company carried the largest general stock of merchandise in Cambridge and was known as the best general store north of Weiser. The Fred M. Jewell Company operated at this location for several decades. From 1931 to 1978 various businesses occupied the building selling everything from hardware to livestock feed to liquor.
During the years of 1900 to 1926 Cambridge suffered a series of fires which destroyed most of the timber-frame buildings in the commercial district, and the stores were all rebuilt in brick. After the last major fire, the Jewell Building is the only timber frame building left in the downtown district.
The Jewell Building is listed on the National Historic Register.
The Jewell Building was donated to the City of Cambridge and opened as a Museum in August 1984.
Directions
15 North Superior Street
Cambridge, ID 83610