It is a 105-acre (42 ha) area reflecting the extent of the village when it was first incorporated in the 1860s and its subsequent development in the years the Rice Seed Company, largest in the world at the time, was located here.

Among its contributing properties are the Rice Seed Company's headquarters, a late Victorian opera house and a church with Tiffany interiors and stained glass windows.

[2] The area is mostly flat, reflecting the nearby presence of the Owl Kill, a tributary of the Hoosic River which flows through the district in a controlled channel at a small park on the south side of West Main between Pearl Street and Memorial Drive.

[2] The settlement of the future village began in the 1760s, after the resolution of the French and Indian War had made it safe to settle in the previously contested frontier area north of Albany.

In 1761, Cadwallader Colden, the colony's surveyor general and acting governor, was involved in the purchase of the Cambridge Patent, part of which was soon conveyed to a group of six partners, his son among them.

[2] The area was especially desirable for settlers because of the great extent of flat and arable terrain around the Owl Kill (although the creek could not be used for mills since it thus generated no power).

[2] As the 19th century progressed, three distinct settlements emerged within the area: Cambridge, Dorr Corners and North White Creek, all around crossroads.

Flax and sheep farming were introduced, providing raw material for early textile mills in the nearby cities and small towns like Hoosick Falls and Bennington.

[2] Almost three decades later, in 1852, the Troy and Rutland Railroad was built through the town, and a station established at the center of the then-hamlet of North White Creek.