When his Wheeling Avenue men’s apparel store closed its doors, Bob Ley was left wondering if he could find a way to continue to draw residents and visitors to downtown Cambridge. It’s a struggle that communities of all shapes and sizes face — but most communities don’t have folks like Bob Ley.
Inspired by his mother’s English heritage and the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, Ley created a series of sketches that he shared with Martha
Jamail, a local artist. Soon teachers, vocational students and residents bearing armfuls of vintage clothing got involved, and the Dickens’ Victorian Village was born. From November through January, this town in the Appalachian foothills is transformed into an English hamlet with the likes of Ebenezer Scrooge under every lamppost and tourists rolling in along the National Road.
“This is more than a labor of love,” says Debbie Robinson, director of the Cambridge/Guernsey County Convention & Visitors Bureau. “It has really touched the entire community.”
Robinson is a self-proclaimed “transplant” who moved to Cambridge for a job at Southeastern Ohio Regional Medical Center, which provides trauma care to Ohioans from as far away as Belmont and Muskingum counties. And she’s not the only one who relocated here. Laura Schumann came to town from Colorado to direct the Southeastern Ohio Symphony Orchestra, and Jim and Patricia Irvin, owners of the Colonel Taylor Inn B&B, were drawn to Cambridge by their Victorian mansion on a hill.
It’s nearly impossible to spend a day in this city of nearly 13,000 residents without meeting people involved in the Dickens festivities or some other volunteer effort. Young Cambridge natives publicize the courthouse holiday light show on Facebook and local manufacturer Edgetech provides a sizeable space for the storage and year-round care of the more than 170 Dickens mannequins. It takes 200 volunteers to get the Victorian Village up and running, but in this town, there are plenty of helping hands.
Another Cambridge tradition is The National Museum of Cambridge Glass, which, on the outside, looks like the bank it once was. But step inside, and see case after case of glittering antiques on a tour run by, of course, a volunteer docent.
Cambridge Glass closed in 1958, but today’s Cambridge economy runs on a variety of other businesses, including Colgate-Palmolive and Ridge Tool, located in industrial parks on the outskirts of town. This year Basic Systems Inc., an engineering company, completed construction of a new corporate headquarters, and construction is also under way on a new municipal court building. A main street improvement project is expected to begin sometime next year.
Families thrive in Cambridge, enjoying a city park complete with mini-golf, fishing, a relocated historic covered bridge and a new handicap-accessible playground with a unique swing for children in wheelchairs. On summer Thursday evenings, the Cambridge City Band — the oldest community band in Ohio — entertains under the pavilion. Four of the five Cambridge City Schools were built in 2003, and the new YMCA here offers myriad recreation options, including teen competitive dance and cheerleading teams. Pritchard Laughlin Civic Center provides a space for arts, theater and private events.
And then there’s the food. Both Kennedy’s Bakery, known for amazing doughnuts since 1925, and Theo’s “mile-high pies” are reasons to order dessert first.
Cambridge
- Year Founded: 1806
- Location: Guernsey County seat, 80 miles east of Columbus
- Population: Approximately 13,000
- Size: 16 square miles
- Type of Government: Mayor, 8-member council