Cambria, Pennsylvania facts for kids

Cambria was a special farming community in Pennsylvania, started by people from Wales. It was founded in the 1790s by about 50 families who moved all the way from a village called Llanbrynmair in Wales. They settled on land bought by a Baptist minister named Morgan John Rhys.

The name "Cambria" comes from an old Latin word that means "Wales." It was a way to remember their home country.

How Cambria Started

Cambria was a very important place because it was the first community in the United States where people mostly spoke Welsh! Imagine a whole town where everyone spoke the same language from their home country, even though they were in a new land. This made Cambria a unique and special place for Welsh families.

Moving West: A New Adventure

After some time, starting around 1801, some families from Cambria decided to move even further west. They were looking for new opportunities and more land. These brave settlers helped start another Welsh-American community called Paddy's Run. Today, that area is known as Shandon, Ohio. This shows how the spirit of adventure and community continued to spread from the original Cambria settlement.