While the mills had all closed by the 1960s, the city experienced rapid population growth and the development of new commercial properties and housing subdivisions.

The community profits from a vibrant tourist industry and hosts festivals and events throughout the year that attract visitors from other areas.

[12] In 1968, archaeologists from the Milwaukee Public Museum found human burials and artifacts, including stone altars, arrowheads, and pottery shards, during an excavation of one of the mounds.

The Potawatomi surrendered the land the United States Federal Government in 1833 through the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, which (after being ratified in 1835) required them to leave Wisconsin by 1838.

[15][16] While many Native people moved west of the Mississippi River to Kansas, some chose to remain, and were referred to as "strolling Potawatomi" in contemporary documents because many of them were migrants who subsisted by squatting on their ancestral lands which were now owned by white settlers.

Eventually the Native people who evaded forced removal gathered in northern Wisconsin, where they formed the Forest County Potawatomi Community.

The first resident was Joseph Gardenier, who built a log shanty on Cedar Creek as his headquarters for surveying for the construction of the Green Bay Road.

After eleven years of operation, they replaced the original structure with the five-story, stone Cedarburg Mill, which became the focal point of the new community.

By 1873 the rail line extended from Milwaukee to Green Bay, connecting Cedarburg and other small communities to larger markets.

The company continued passenger rail service to Cedarburg until 1948, when the Ozaukee County line declined due to increased use of personal automobiles and better roads.

The soil in area is a mixture of well-draining material, loess, and loam, which all overlie a layer of glacial till.

[23] Cedar Creek runs through the city parallel to the Washington Avenue historic and commercial district.

[25] Despite cleanup efforts, the Wisconsin DNR advises against eating any fish caught in the creek downstream from the Bridge Road dam.

[27] As land development continues to reduce wild areas, wildlife is forced into closer proximity with human communities like Cedarburg.

Large mammals, including white-tailed deer, coyotes, and red foxes can be seen within the city limits.

[28] Many birds, including great blue herons and wild turkeys are found in and around the City of Cedarburg.

[8] The rare Goldenseal plant grows in a woodland on the northern boundary between the city and the Town of Cedarburg.

As is the case in many of the cities and villages in Ozaukee County, Cedarburg's earliest businesses were hydropowered mills.

Carl Kiekhaefer founded Mercury Marine in Cedarburg in 1939, and the company operated a plant on St. John Avenue until 1982.

[35] Both companies polluted the soil and waters of Cedar Creek with PCBs, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is using Superfund money to clean up the sites.

[37] The Hilgen and Wittenberg Woolen Mill closed in 1968 and sat vacant for several years, until an offer was made to buy the buildings.

The Zur Ruhe Cemetery on Bridge Street takes its name from a German phrase meaning "to rest."

[44] Cedarburg hosts the Ozaukee County Fair at Firemen's Park, on Washington Avenue, north of downtown.

The event is free, and includes live music, truck and tractor pulls, rides, a demolition derby, and 4-H and livestock exhibitions.

[45] Firemen's Park also hosts four "Maxwell Street Days" flea markets each summer as a fundraiser for the Cedarburg Fire Department.

[69] Since 1966, the fire department has organized "Maxwell Street Days" flea markets each summer as a fundraiser.

Cedarburg grew from a rural hamlet into an incorporated city in part because of its 19th century rail connections.

From 1907 to 1948, Cedarburg was connected to Milwaukee and Sheboygan by an interurban passenger rail line, which fell into disuse following World War II and was converted into a bicycle and pedestrian trail in the 1990s.

The Wisconsin Central Ltd. railroad provides freight rail service to Cedarburg as part of its Saukville subdivision.

[78] Cedarburg is also home to several private recreational facilities, including a golf course, two bowling alleys, several workout gyms, the Milwaukee Curling Club, a gymnastics facility, a roller rink, and the Ozaukee Ice Center, a year-round hockey and skating rink.