Huntingdon was founded by the Anglo-Saxons and Danes.
It is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 921, where it appears as Huntandun.
It appears as Huntedun in the Domesday Book of 1086.
The name means "The huntsman's hill" or possibly "Hunta's hill".

It seems that Huntingdon was a staging post for Danish raids outside of East Anglia until 917, when the Danes moved to Tempsford in Bedfordshire, before they were crushed by Edward the Elder.
It prospered successively as a bridging point of the River Great Ouse, as a market town, and in the 18th and 19th centuries as a coaching centre, most notably the George Hotel.
The town has a well-preserved medieval bridge that used to serve as the main route of Ermine Street over the river.
The bridge only ceased to be the sole crossing point to Godmanchester in 1975, with the advent of what is now the A14 bypass.

Its valuable trading position was secured by Huntingdon Castle, of which only the earthworks of its motte survive.
The site is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and home to a beacon used to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Spanish Armada.

In 1746, the botanists Wood and Ingram of nearby Brampton developed an elm-tree cultivar, Ulmus × hollandica 'Vegeta', which they named the "Huntingdon Elm" after the town.

Original documents on Huntingdon's history, including the borough charter of 1205, are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office, Huntingdon.

Parts of Huntingdon, including the town centre, were struck by an F1/T3 tornado on 23 November 1981, during a record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day.
Moderate damage resulted in Huntingdon town centre.

Between the railway station and the old hospital building stands a replica cannon installed in the 1990s to replace one from the Crimean War, scrapped for the war effort in the Second World War.
However, it faces in the opposite direction from the original.
St Mary's Street drill hall was built in the late 19th century.
Huntingdon was founded by the Anglo-Saxons and Danes. It is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 921, where it appears as Huntandun. It appears as Huntedun in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means "The huntsman's hill" or possibly "Hunta's hill".
It seems that Huntingdon was a staging post for Danish raids outside of East Anglia until 917, when the Danes moved to Tempsford in Bedfordshire, before they were crushed by Edward the Elder. It prospered successively as a bridging point of the River Great Ouse, as a market town, and in the 18th and 19th centuries as a coaching centre, most notably the George Hotel. The town has a well-preserved medieval bridge that used to serve as the main route of Ermine Street over the river. The bridge only ceased to be the sole crossing point to Godmanchester in 1975, with the advent of what is now the A14 bypass.
Its valuable trading position was secured by Huntingdon Castle, of which only the earthworks of its motte survive. The site is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and home to a beacon used to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Spanish Armada.
In 1746, the botanists Wood and Ingram of nearby Brampton developed an elm-tree cultivar, Ulmus × hollandica 'Vegeta', which they named the "Huntingdon Elm" after the town.
Original documents on Huntingdon's history, including the borough charter of 1205, are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office, Huntingdon.
Parts of Huntingdon, including the town centre, were struck by an F1/T3 tornado on 23 November 1981, during a record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day. Moderate damage resulted in Huntingdon town centre.
Between the railway station and the old hospital building stands a replica cannon installed in the 1990s to replace one from the Crimean War, scrapped for the war effort in the Second World War. However, it faces in the opposite direction from the original. St Mary's Street drill hall was built in the late 19th century.
Huntingdon