Excerpt from The Heritage of Blue Earth County by Julie Schrader, Topic 54, available in the Research & Genealogy Center.

“The community of Cambria Township is located in the Northeast corner of Blue Earth County of the State of Minnesota and is bounded on the north by the Minnesota River. The Village of Cambria was founded in 1899-1900 when the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad was built.

“The present location of Cambria was first opened for homesteading through the treaties of Mendota and Traverse des Sioux in 1853. The hardships which the early settlers endured are almost beyond imagination. The grasshopper infestation, the most severe winter of 1865-1857, prairie fires, renegade Indians, swampy conditions and millions of mosquitoes, non-existent roads to name a few. Simple hand tools were all they had to tame the wilderness. The ax, the sickle, was to make due.

“Cambria Township was originally included in Butternut Valley Township. After several years, a move was started to divide it into parts. The residents of the North end wanted to form a township that was not so large and proceeded to petition to vote for a division. Robert H. Hughes took the lead to get votes necessary to divide it. The vote was overwhelming in favor of the division. Cambria was the name given to the new township. Many of the residents who lived here had come from Cambria, Wisconsin, also as most of them had come from Wales. The South part of the divided township retained the name of Butternut Valley.

“Tributaries of the Minnesota River which flow into it in Cambria Township are the Little Cottonwood River and Morgan Creek. Along the banks of these streams is a large variety of timber. This timber was used by the early settlers to build their log houses and other farm buildings.”