Ashland, Virginia | |
|---|---|
 Ashland Town Hall | |
 Seal  Logo | |
| Nickname: The Center of the Universe[1] | |
 Location inHanover County and the state ofVirginia | |
| Coordinates:37°45′34″N77°28′38″W / 37.75944°N 77.47722°W /37.75944; -77.47722 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| County | Hanover |
| Founded | 1858 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council-Manager |
| • Mayor | James R. Foley |
| • Town Manager | Joshua Farrar |
| Area | |
• Total | 7.23 sq mi (18.7 km2) |
| • Land | 7.20 sq mi (18.6 km2) |
| • Water | 0.03 sq mi (0.078 km2) |
| Elevation | 213 ft (65 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 7,565 |
| • Density | 1,000/sq mi (390/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 23005 |
| Area code | 804 |
| FIPS code | 51-03368[3] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1492492[4] |
| Website | ashlandva |
Ashland is atown inHanover County,Virginia, United States, located 16 miles (26 km) north ofRichmond alongInterstate 95 andU.S. Route 1. As of the2020 census it had a population of 7,565,[5] up from 7,225 at the 2010 census.
Ashland is named after theLexington, Kentucky estate of Hanover County native and statesmanHenry Clay. It is the onlyincorporated town in Hanover County. Although comprising only one square mile when originally incorporated in 1858, today Ashland has grown through several annexations to a size of 7.16 square miles (18.5 km2).[5][6]
TheRichmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad initially developed the town in the 1840s as a mineral springs resort with a racetrack. The town was named "Ashland" after native son Henry Clay'sestate in Kentucky and was officially incorporated on February 19, 1858. The area had been known as "The Slashes", sometimes translated as "swamp", but which also reflected the small ravines that formed in the sandy clay soil after hard rains.[7]
Confederate troops trained on the former racetrack early in theAmerican Civil War, but the war and its aftermath devastated Ashland.Randolph–Macon College (founded 1830) moved to Ashland in 1868 and began using buildings of the bankrupt hotel as well as building additional structures.
The railroad lines rebuilt and the town continued to expand. Even before the war, the railroad began offering monthly passes to Richmond to people buying lots and building houses in Ashland. When tycoonJay Gould established an electrifiedinterurban line between Ashland and Richmond in 1907, the town became an earlystreetcar suburb of Richmond. The Richmond and Chesapeake Bay Railway, as it came to be called, was abandoned in 1938. A formercar barn in Ashland is one of the few remaining vestiges of the line.[8]
Construction ofU.S. Route 1 on the former Washington (or Richmond) Road, and laterI-95, further shaped the town character and development.
One of Virginia's oldest churches is 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Ashland:Slash Church, built as the Upper Church of St. Paul's Parish in 1729 remains a house of worship, though now used by theDisciples of Christ.[9][10] Ashland itself originally had a Free Church, shared by variousProtestant denominations. Several denominations built churches shortly after the Civil War, but many have been torn down. The town's currentEpiscopal church is St. James the Less, on the other side of the railway line from Slash Church and whose congregation received monthly clergy visitations in the 1850s, and which in 1958 sold its 1866-consecrated and once-moved building as well as the old rectory (which still remains today, in private ownership) in order to build a larger one on the town's outskirts. The Disciples of Christ also had a historic church on Center Street (built 1900) that was replaced in 1985. Historic churches still within the town's (and historic district's) boundaries include Ashland Baptist Church (1860, now the Hanover Arts and Activities Center); Shiloh Baptist Church (1866, originally Freedmens Baptist Church), Duncan Memorial Chapel (Methodist, 1879), St. Ann's Catholic Church (built 1892, remodeled 1925) and Ashland Presbyterian Church (1875-1881). Gwathmey Baptist Church (1892) is a mile nearer Richmond and (like the former St. James the Less Church), within 50 feet of the railroad tracks.[11] The town now also has an Eastern Orthodox congregation, St. Andrew's (2001), and a messianic Jewish congregation (Beth Shalom Ministries, 2004).
On October 19, 2002, Ashland made national news as the site of one of theD.C. sniper attacks. 37-year-old Jeffrey Hopper was shot at 8:00 pm in the parking lot of aPonderosa Steakhouse as he and his wife left the restaurant. A ransom demand note the snipers left nearby was instrumental in identifying them.[12]
The local newspaper,The Herald-Progress, published its final edition on March 29, 2018.[13]
Ashland is located near the center of Hanover County at37°45′34″N77°28′38″W / 37.75944°N 77.47722°W /37.75944; -77.47722 (37.759361, −77.477226).[14]U.S. Route 1 passes through the east side of the center of town, leading north 8 miles (13 km) toDoswell and south 16 miles (26 km) to Richmond.Interstate 95 passes through the town limits further to the east, with access from Exit 92. I-95 leads north 38 miles (61 km) toFredericksburg and 90 miles (140 km) toWashington, D.C., while to the south it leads 16 miles to Richmond and 40 miles (64 km) toPetersburg.Virginia State Route 54 goes through the center of Ashland as England Street and Thompson Street, leading east 6 miles (10 km) toU.S. Route 301 atHanover, thecounty seat, and northwest 13 miles (21 km) toMontpelier.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, Ashland has a total area of 7.2 square miles (18.6 km2), of which 0.03 square miles (0.08 km2), or 0.43%, are water.[15] Ashland is drained to the north by tributaries of theSouth Anna River, part of thePamunkey andYork River watershed, and to the south by tributaries of theChickahominy River, part of theJames River watershed.
The climate in this area ishumid subtropical (Cfa) and is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cold winters. Average monthly temperatures range from 36.4 °F in January to 77.4 °F in July.[16] Thehardiness zone is 7a.
| Climate data for Ashland, Virginia (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1893–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 82 (28) | 82 (28) | 92 (33) | 96 (36) | 97 (36) | 101 (38) | 103 (39) | 105 (41) | 105 (41) | 96 (36) | 88 (31) | 80 (27) | 105 (41) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 46.8 (8.2) | 51.1 (10.6) | 59.9 (15.5) | 71.1 (21.7) | 76.5 (24.7) | 82.9 (28.3) | 86.7 (30.4) | 85.1 (29.5) | 79.2 (26.2) | 68.9 (20.5) | 59.0 (15.0) | 49.9 (9.9) | 68.1 (20.1) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 37.0 (2.8) | 40.0 (4.4) | 47.8 (8.8) | 58.1 (14.5) | 65.6 (18.7) | 73.1 (22.8) | 77.2 (25.1) | 75.7 (24.3) | 69.3 (20.7) | 58.3 (14.6) | 48.2 (9.0) | 40.1 (4.5) | 57.5 (14.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 27.2 (−2.7) | 29.0 (−1.7) | 35.7 (2.1) | 45.2 (7.3) | 54.7 (12.6) | 63.2 (17.3) | 67.6 (19.8) | 66.2 (19.0) | 59.5 (15.3) | 47.7 (8.7) | 37.4 (3.0) | 30.2 (−1.0) | 47.0 (8.3) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −18 (−28) | −11 (−24) | 4 (−16) | 15 (−9) | 28 (−2) | 37 (3) | 43 (6) | 41 (5) | 33 (1) | 19 (−7) | 10 (−12) | −4 (−20) | −18 (−28) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 3.29 (84) | 2.82 (72) | 3.79 (96) | 3.41 (87) | 4.24 (108) | 4.58 (116) | 4.29 (109) | 3.91 (99) | 4.19 (106) | 3.69 (94) | 3.37 (86) | 3.72 (94) | 45.30 (1,151) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 5.9 (15) | 4.0 (10) | 1.8 (4.6) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 3.0 (7.6) | 14.7 (37) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 9.7 | 8.9 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 10.1 | 8.8 | 9.8 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 9.4 | 106.3 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 2.7 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 7.5 |
| Source:NOAA[17][18] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 148 | — | |
| 1870 | 491 | 231.8% | |
| 1880 | 764 | 55.6% | |
| 1890 | 948 | 24.1% | |
| 1900 | 1,147 | 21.0% | |
| 1910 | 1,324 | 15.4% | |
| 1920 | 1,290 | −2.6% | |
| 1930 | 1,297 | 0.5% | |
| 1940 | 1,718 | 32.5% | |
| 1950 | 2,610 | 51.9% | |
| 1960 | 2,773 | 6.2% | |
| 1970 | 2,934 | 5.8% | |
| 1980 | 4,640 | 58.1% | |
| 1990 | 5,864 | 26.4% | |
| 2000 | 6,619 | 12.9% | |
| 2010 | 7,225 | 9.2% | |
| 2020 | 7,565 | 4.7% |
As of thecensus[5] of 2020, there were 7,565 people with 2,660 households in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 64.2%White, 21.6%African American, 0.5%Native American, 1.2%Asian, and 4.8% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 13.5% of the population.
The median income for a household in the town was $55,521. Theper capita income for the town was $26,227. About 16.9% of the population were below thepoverty line.
Ashland is governed by a five-member town council, and day-to-day activities are run by a town manager, appointed by the town council. Hanover County handles stormwater pollutant removal and filtration.[19] The town's library is part of the multi-county Pamunkey Regional Library System, although additional libraries are at the courthouse and Randolph Macon College.[20]
The Ashland Volunteer Fire Company, formed in 1890, is located on 501 Archie Canon Drive.[21] Hanover County Fire-EMS now[when?] provides 24/7 career staffing from this station and is supplemented by volunteers.[citation needed] The Ashland Police Department has 25 sworn full-time officers and is Law Enforcement Accredited by theCommission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA).[citation needed]
Ashland's major highway connection is toI-95 at exit 92, viaVirginia State Route 54. Commercial airline service is provided atRichmond International Airport, 26 miles (42 km) distant, andgeneral aviation is served byHanover County Municipal Airport, 5 miles (8 km) south of downtown.
Ashland's railroad station is served byAmtrakNortheast Regional trains bound forRichmond,Newport News andNorfolk, as well as points north such asWashington, D.C., and beyond on theNortheast Corridor toBaltimore,Philadelphia,New York City, andBoston. Other Amtrak long-distance trains, such as theSilver Meteor andAuto Train to Florida, pass through Ashland without stopping on theCSX railroad's double-track mainline that bisects the downtown business district. As those trains approach Ashland, onboard announcers point out theRandolph–Macon College campus and the houses and businesses facing the tracks.
Proposals in the 2016 "DC2RVA" study to improve rail service betweenWashington, D.C., and Richmond by expanding the existing double-track railroad to triple-track have prompted concerns about its impact on the prized ambiance of downtown Ashland. The Main Street merchants' association said at a hearing that the additional track would result in "incalculable” loss to the city's "charm, the quaintness, and the aesthetic values".[22]
Ashland's tourist information center is located at theAshland railroad station.Bloomberg Business in 2009 named Ashland "Best Place to Raise your Kids" in Virginia. In 2014, Movoto.com named Ashland one of America's 10 best small towns.[23]
Pufferbelly Park, located behind the Ashland Police Department,[24] features playground facilities and the town'spublic skatepark, which opened in 2004.[25]
For nearly 35 years, Ashland's main festival has been the "Strawberry Faire" in June,[26] at which vendors from around the state sell a variety of different items (with a strawberry theme). Festivities include a Strawberry Faire Pageant for Little Miss and Mister Strawberry, as well as live performances by local artists. TenHanover County Schools students each year receive Strawberry Faire scholarships.
The "Ashland Musical Variety Show" is a biennial talent show held in odd years.[27] It features songs and skits performed by area residents and raises funds for the Hanover Arts & Activities Center in Ashland. It started in 1982.
Another festival is the family-friendly annual "Ashland Train Day" on the last Saturday in April. Vendors can be found from around the country up and down Railroad Avenue. With the Quiet Zone rules in suspension, visitors are treated to frequentCSX freight trains andAmtrak passenger trains sounding off.[28] Train day usually occurs on the last Saturday of April. During the event, Railroad Ave and England St are blocked off from vehicle traffic.[29]
The Ashland Theatre sits on England Street and first opened in 1948 until its closure in the 1990s. The Ashland Theatre reopened its doors in 2018 after being completely renovated. It is run by the Ashland Theatre Foundation, a non-profit organization. The building is distinguished by its vintage appearance and neon lights. It offers an array of activities such as movies, concerts, book signings, and more.[30]
Mr. Jingles is across-dressing man who rides a bicycle through the town while playing music; he peddles thirty miles daily.[31][32]
Scenes from the 1995 filmMajor Payne were shot at Ashland's railroad station.
Municipalities and communities ofHanover County, Virginia,United States | ||
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| Town |  | |
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| Unincorporated communities | ||
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| Geographic | |
| Other | |
