Cambridge is notable for having the highest percentage of Swedish Americans of any city in the United States with a population of over 5,000 people.

[7] The city of Cambridge was established in the late 19th century along the railroad from Minneapolis to Duluth.

These were "Yankee" settlers, that is to say they were descended from the English Puritans who settled New England during the colonial era.

Later on the surrounding area would be heavily populated with Swedish, and German, immigrants.

[8] In the early 20th century, Cambridge had a potato starch factory, a 1,301-barrel flour mill, a wool carding and spinning mill, an electric lighting plant, and local and long-distance telephone systems.

[10] The Rum River flows north to south through the middle of Cambridge.

Cambridge has a warm-summer humid continental climate,[11] with the average July temperature being just below the isotherm for the hot-summer subtype.

Temperature differences between summer and winters are large, typical of the Upper Midwest.

Spring and fall are rather short due to the extreme warming and cooling off depending on daylight hours.

Winter is relatively long and cold, but cools off later and heats up earlier than more northerly areas of the state.

The warm to hot summers are also typical of central Minnesota and tend to bring more precitipation than during winter.