The 170-page, soft-cover book, a project created by the Cambridge Historical Association, features hundreds of photographs and a detailed history of the 150-year-old town.
A photograph of downtown Cambridge is featured on the cover in blue and white in honor of Cambridge's school colors. The books are $20 each and are for sale at Wheelers on Water Street.
"Cambridge, Iowa - The First 150 Years" is a great example of the historical group making a reality of its motto, "Bringing the past, into the present, for the future."
The Cambridge Historical Association has a board with the following members: Don Erickson, Vivian Sesker, Valerie Moore, Lois Whitney, Dorothy Denton, Florence Wheeler, Joyce Williams and Mary Ann Apland.
Erickson, with help from his wife Julie, designed and published the book where he works, Heuss Printing in Ames.
Chapters in the history book include: Skunk River, Transportation, City Living, Education, Churches, Cemeteries, Business, Agriculture, Doctors, Military, Entertainment, Centennial, News, Centenarians and Plat Maps.
The idea for the history book started in 1980 when Harold Wheeler was visiting with Lafayette Langland, who published the Cambridge Leader. Lafayette and his wife Peggy had run the newspaper together for many years, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.
Harold asked Langland for copies of all the papers, which had been printed from 1906 to 1972. The information - news items, obituaries, advertisements - from all of those papers were the seed that eventually grew into the newly-published history book.
Harold Wheeler passed away in 1995, but his wife Florence said he would have been thrilled with the publication of the history book. "That was his dream," she said.
The completion of the book is not just the work of the historical association. "Many people sent in pictures and articles to use in the book," Florence Wheeler said. "Those items made the book much more interesting."
The books arrived Monday afternoon and in the first 24 hours Wheeler has already sold several.
The Cambridge Historical Association hopes to use profits from the sale of the book to help do another book. Wheeler said the plan is for all the books to be similar in size and style, so they look like a set.
Other book topics could include school history, including the country schools, business history or even a book that compares historical Cambridge postcards to the current locations in the photos.
Wheelers, at 209 Water St., is home to many historical items besides the Cambridge history books. A museum of sorts shows displays of items from the past, and shelves full of obituaries and genealogy material is available for people to use as research.
The museum at Wheelers is available to people who would like to browse or research "anytime they can find me," Florence said.
The Story County Board of Supervisors has donated to the historical group for the last few years, generally with a donation of about $2,000. "That really helps us out," she said.
Information that is available at Wheelers includes more than 4,000 obituaries, genealogy books, hundreds of photographs by Ed Rood, three Norwegian Bibles and one German version of the Old Testament. A copy machine is also available at the cost of 10 cents a sheet.
Displays in the museum include sports, cobbler, medical, millinery, religion and transportation.
"Valerie Moore has been especially good to help with displays," Wheeler said. "She has a real eye for it."
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