1919	Minnesota Legislature authorized the State Board of Control to select a site from public lands for a feeble-minded colony and a colony for epileptics.
1923	The law was amended to permit the purchase of land for an epileptic colony.
December 1923	323 acres of land was purchased for $37,065 from T.C. and Adelaide C. Blomgren near Cambridge for the Minnesota Colony for Epileptics.
April 1925	Cottage 1 completed, built by the Askov Construction Company.
May 1925	A workforce from The Faribault School for the Feeble-Minded was brought in to prepare the buildings.
June 1925	First patients arrived via automobile from Faribault. Occupancy reached 61 patients, with 9 people on staff.
1925 / 1926	$255,000 appropriated for the construction of the Main Building. Farming operation set up, including a garden and a herd of cattle for dairy.
August 1927	Construction began on Cottage 2.
August 22, 1927	The Main Building was completed and opened. It contained the administrative offices, quarters for employees, a hospital, wards for children, school and industrial rooms, dining room, kitchen, cold storage, pantry, and a power plant.
June 1928	Cottage 2 opened, with a capacity of 72 females. The institution had a total capacity of 284, and had 37 employees.
1930	Cottage 3 and Cottage 4 were completed and occupied.
February 1932	A new power plant was put into service. The old boiler house in the main building was converted into a laundry.
June 1932	Cottage 5 and Cottage 6 were completed and occupied.
February 1934	Cottage 7 and Cottage 12 were finished and occupied, each housing 100 patients. This brought the total capacity up to 878.
March 1937	Cottage 9 and Cottage 14 were completed, adding capacity for an additional 230 people.
March 1938	A combined Auditorium and Warehouse building was completed. Refrigerating units were brought in for the warehouse. The Auditorium sat about 1200 people.
Early 1940's	The institution had difficulties keeping attendents and workers due to war conditions and higher wages in other industries.
1940's	Change in the legal terminology from "feeble-minded" to "mentally deficient".
June 1946	Total population of 1093, with 130 employees. The average budget expenditure during this period was about $22.00 per month per patient.
1949	Minnesota Legislature changed the name of the institution from Minnesota Colony for Epileptics to the Cambridge State School and Hospital.
1949	Minnesota Legislature passed the Mental Health Act, which aimed to improve institutional conditions. Among the goals were : a single food standard for employees and patients, staff for therapy and spiritual counsel, improved accommodations for the patients to improve comfort, and an increase in research to improve the diagnosis and treatment of the mentally ill and retarded.
1952	The Dormitory Building was completed. It was used as additional living space for employees. Up until 1945, all employees had been required to live on the grounds. By this point, some were allowed to live off-campus, but all were subject to a 24-hour call for duty.
1950's	There was a bad staffing ratio, and sometimes a ward of 60 patients would only have 1 attendant on duty. Sometimes adult patients were assigned to watch children as "foster parents".
1955	Cottage 8, Cottage 11, and the Infirmary were opened, raising the capacity to 1500.
1955	Minnesota Legislature authorized final expansion of capacity, appropriating $2,954,000 for the construction of "a new hospital facility with a capacity of 500 beds for persons who were mentally deficient."
1957	A new sewage disposal system was built in cooperation with the Village of Cambridge to serve both the town and the institution.
1958	Boswell and McBroom Halls were opened, bringing the capacity to 2000 residents.
Late 1950's - 60's	The population shifted away from a majority of residents being epileptics. The institution mostly served patients with retardation or profound retardation.
Early 1960's	Efforts were made by the Department of Public Welfare to "humanize" the living conditions for the residents, and also began an agressive policy of trying to place as many residents as possible into community facilities.
1960	The population of all Minnesota State Hospitals reached a peak population of 16,335 patients. The patients included people who were mentally retarded, mentally ill, or chemically dependent.
1961	The peak population of 2008 residents was reached at the Cambridge State School and Hospital.
June 1961	The farm operation was closed out.
1962	A new building housing the laundry, carpenter and paint shops was completed.
August 1964	Population had been reduced to 1903. There were 265 boys and 193 girls under the age of 14. There were 752 males and 693 females over the age of 14.
October 1965	First Day Activity Center opened to provide programs for children who were unable to attend special school programs, with the intent of helping children to develop social and self-help skills and increase their level of independence.
December 1965	Resident population had been reduced to 1675, with 560 employees.
Mid 1960's - 70's	Staff shortages started to become increasingly problematic. In addition, many higher functioning residents were being discharged, leaving a smaller "working group" of residents who could help with jobs such as housekeeping and bathing, feeding, and dressing less capable residents.
1966	A camping program was started for the residents. The program was met with much enthusiasm by both residents and staff.
1967	Minnesota Legislature changed the name of the institution to Cambridge State Hospital.
May 1968	Linda Thompson was the first Cambridge State Hospital resident to graduate from Cambridge Senior High School.
August 1968	The non-profit corporation Camp New Hope, Inc. was organized at Cambridge to acquire and maintain camping facilities for handicapped persons. The camp was meant to provide recreational, theraputic and educational experiences for patients in a group living setting. 40 acres were purchased north of McGregor Minnesota for a campsite.
1970	The population had dropped to about 1150.
1971	Minnesota Legilslature passed a law requiring mandatory schooling for children who were mentally retarded and trainable. Classes were conducted with Cambridge-Isanti Independent School District 911 starting in August, 1972. Cambridge also asked for 98 additional staff members, but instead lost 148.
February 1972	Population had been reduced to 935, including 50 who were on trial placement.
July 1972	Dellwood North and Dellwood South were opened. The units were 16-bed cottages, and were the first small home-like units built on the campus.
September 1972	A class-action lawsuit was filed against the Cambridge State Hospital and 5 other State Hospitals by a few parents of State Hospital Residents. The suit argued that the physical conditions, care, treatment, and training in the State Hospital system did not meet consitutional standards. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 6 individuals, including two from Cambridge. Since the lawsuit was a class-action suit, it meant that any orders the court issued would benefit all residents of the Minnesota State Hospitals. Complaints by the plaintiffs included seclusion rooms without padding, the use of "powerful tranquilizing" medication used to control 70 percent of the resident population, and the use of mechanical restraints for 200 residents during all or part of each day. The main plaintiff was Patricia Welsch (filed on her behalf by her father, Richard Welsch), so the lawsuit and the subsequent rulings are usually referred to in literature as "the Welsch case".
1973	Population was 816 residents, with per capita costs of $7,358 for the year. A request for 267 additional employees for Cambridge in the 1973-75 biennium was reduced to only 45 by the Department of Public Welfare.
Late 1973 - 1974	In anticipation of upcoming rulings from Judge Larson, Cambridge State Hospital was reorganized from being more medically-oriented to being a more program-oriented structure. There was an attempt to involve every resident on campus to at least six hours of programming per day, five days a week. The new programs were called Structured Program Services, or SPS. They were conducted outside of the patient's immediate living area as much as possible. By January 1974, about 97 percent of patients were involved in programs, compared to only about 50 percent in years past.
February 1974	Federal Judge Earl Larson ruled that mentally retarded people living in state hospitals had a constitutional right to treatment and "a humane and safe living environment". Larson listed practices such as the seclusion, restraining, or tranquilization of patients just to keep them under control as a violation of constitutional rights. He attributed the practices partly to shortages in staff, saying that "officials acted in good faith" but were constrained by insufficient state funding.
1974 - 1987	Specific rulings were made by Judge Larson which outlined and maintained juristiction over major changes to be made in the state hospital system. These included a reduction in population to no more than 1850 statewide by 1987, admission to state hospitals only if no other community placement was available, specific staff requirements and patient-to-staff ratios, severe restrictions on seclusion, restraints, and the use of major tranquilizers, and many other changes. The court order also stated that the buildings needed remodeling and updating to make them more safe and to create a more homelike environment.
June 1975	Population was at 658, the lowest since 1932. The severity of the disabilities of the residents was much higher, since the more functional residents were discharged into their home community or into community facilities. About 90 percent of the residents were severly and profoundly retarded. 85 percent had little or no speech, and 50 percent had physical handicaps as well as mental handicaps. This also greatly increased the staff to patient ratio, requiring much more care for each patient.
1976	As a result of a reduced population and the consolidation of patients into other buildings, Cottage 7 was demolished.
August 1979	Licenced capacity of 600 people, with an actual population of about 550 patients. Per capita costs of $21,324 for the year. About 479 people were on payroll for direct resident care, with about 225 on payroll as support staff.
1985	Reflecting a change toward regionalization of care, Minnesota State Legislature changed the State Hospital system into Regional Treatment Centers. The name of the institution changed to Cambridge Regional Human Services Center. The goals were to provide services to individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities, including habilitation and training. The population had dropped to about 459.
1986	The Minnesota Department of Human Services developed seven pilot State Operated Community Services (SOCS), which functioned as residential homes, with four people living in each home who had moved out of the Regional Treatment Centers. The program was expenaded in 1993 to serve about 160 persons in residential settings.
1987	The Welch case was ultimately settled. The transition into services that support individuals in community-based programs continued. Cambridge Regional Health Services Center had about 368 patients.
1990	Population had dropped to under 300.
1990's	Group homes and day treatment centers were developed in many communities throughout Minnesota, and patients were discharged into these programs. McBroom Hall and Oakview (Cottage 11) were the only remaining buildings still used as residencies.
1994	The statewide population of people in state-operated Regional Treatment Centers was reduced to an average daily census of 2,517. The reduction was largely due to psychotropic medication and new community-based alternative care options. The population at Cambridge was 168.
1995 (?)	Cottage 9 was demolished.
1998	A new service organization called the Minnesota Extended Treatment Options Program was developed by the State of Minnesota. The program was for individuals who were considered a public safety risk, and who were diagnosed with developmental disabilities or related conditions. Construction of new condo-style housing was begun on the campus, with a capacity of 48 individuals. About 120 employees from the Cambridge Regional Human Services Center were transferred to the new program.
2003	Minnesota State Legislature authorized the sale of a large portion of the land on the campus of the old Cambridge State Hospital to the city of Cambridge. Cambridge began plans for redevelopment of the land for residential and commercial use. Land was retained by the state as a buffer around the M.E.T.O. campus. The legislature provided funds needed to demolish the older brick cottages on the state land.
Summer - Fall 2003	Cottage 6, Cottage 4, Cottage 2, Cottage 12 and Cottage 14 were cleared of asbestos and lead, then demolished.
Fall - Winter 2003	Cottage 1, Cottage 3, and Cottage 5 were cleared of asbestos and lead, then demolished.
Winter - Spring 2004	The Main Building (Administration) was cleared of asbestos and lead, then demolished. The smokestack was removed from the power plant. Oakview was renovated for use by Isanti County as a Government Center and overflow jail. Ridgewood, McBroom, Boswell, and the Dormitory were also prepped and demolished.

Most of the early information here comes from a series of articles written for a Cambridge newspaper for the 50th anniversary of the institution, in July of 1975. The articles were written by Norman Synstelien, who was the public relations officer at Cambridge State Hospital at the time. The research was done by Norbert Johnson, who was instrumental in organizing and saving much of the historical information that exists about Cambridge State Hospital. The rest of the information comes from a variety of Minnesota Legislative Reports, Cambridge State Hospital pamphlets, reports, and overviews, and articles which have appeared in the Cambridge Star and other local newspapers. Thank you to all these sources.

If you are interested in specific sources of information listed here or have any more information to add or change, please contact me. Thank you.