Editing Cambridge, Maryland (section)

===National era===
Cambridge was officially incorporated in 1793,{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} taking over part of the former Choptank Indian Reservation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mdmunicipal.org/cities/index.cfm?townname=cambridge |title=Cambridge, Maryland |website=Maryland Municipal League |access-date=April 6, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606034832/http://www.mdmunicipal.org/cities/index.cfm?townname=cambridge |archive-date=June 6, 2011}}</ref> The town received its name from a city and county in England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=2482|title=Profile for Cambridge, Maryland, MD|publisher=ePodunk|access-date=August 24, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910071115/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=2482|archive-date=September 10, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Cambridge also became a stop on the [[Underground Railroad]], which provided a network of safe houses for enslaved people escaping to the north.

In the late 19th century, Cambridge developed food processing industries, specializing in the canning of [[oysters]], tomatoes, and [[sweet potatoes]]. The town's industrial growth was led by the [[Phillips Foods, Inc. and Seafood Restaurants|Phillips Packing Company]], which eventually became the region's largest employer. Winning contracts from the Department of Defense during the [[First World War|First]] and [[Second World War|Second World]] Wars greatly aided the company's growth. At its height, the company employed as many as 10,000 workers.<ref name="Phillips" /> However, shifting tastes brought a decline in business, causing Phillips to reduce its operations. By the early 1960s, the company had ceased operations entirely, leading to widespread unemployment and exacerbating the city's growing social issues.<ref name="Phillips">{{cite encyclopedia
 |first       = John R.
 |last       = Wennersten
 |editor-first       = Beatriz B.
 |editor-last       = Hardy
 |encyclopedia = [[Maryland Online Encyclopedia]] (MdOE)
 |title        = The Phillips Packing Company
 |url          = http://www.mdoe.org/phillipspackingco.html
 |access-date   = 2008-01-21
 |edition      = concept demonstration
 |date         = 2006-08-14
 |publisher    = jointly by [[Maryland Historical Society]], [[Maryland Humanities Council]], [[Enoch Pratt Free Library]], and [[Maryland State Department of Education]]
 |quote        = When the Phillips Company ceased its operations in the 1960s, an era had passed.
 |archive-url   = https://web.archive.org/web/20140717144341/http://www.mdoe.org/phillipspackingco.html
 |archive-date  = July 17, 2014
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>