Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Ashland

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
B−History
History · Ashland

Ashland’s post office opened in 1866, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Ashland was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listings are the Clay County Courthouse and the Hugo Black House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1870.

1866first post office
2on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ashland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ashland began

When was Ashland founded?

1866

The Ashland post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1867.

First census: 118 in 18702020 census: 1,984160 years

How historic is Ashland?

B−

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Ashland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1867.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ashland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ashland is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ashland’s overall grade.
Founding era1866, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19409.9% of homes (±7.7) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register2 listings, 11.1 per 10,000 residents · typical AL town 2.7 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 49%
NewerOlder

Alabama towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Alabama town has 2.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ashland’s 11.1 sits above most of its state (68% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1867 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Ashland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew 4-fold.On the map since 18914 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1980. Watch Ashland change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ashland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ashland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBayview trailer park06: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Ashland, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020635 in 1890Low: 422

Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew 4-fold.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ashland’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Ashland on the map, 1891 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ashland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Ashland on the 1891 USGS mapAshland on the 1969 USGS mapAshland on the 1978 USGS mapAshland on the 1980 USGS map1891Ashland sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ashland.

The story

How Ashland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ashland.

Read it all →

Clay County was formed by an act of the Alabama General Assembly on December 7, 1866. Less than a year later, Ashland was established as the county seat on land donated by Hollingsworth Watts for the construction of a courthouse. In 1871 Ashland was incorporated and named for 19th century statesman Henry Clay's Kentucky estate home.

During the early years, the town grew very rapidly. The town continued to grow with the opening of Alabama's first graphite mine in 1899. When World War I ended, the market for graphite dropped drastically, thus ending the town's growth phase.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ashland, 1866 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Ashland post office opens
  3. 1881Born hereHiram Wesley Evans is born here
  4. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1919Born hereJack L. Treadwell is born here
  7. 1944Born hereBob Riley is born here
  8. 1953In the archiveBayview trailer park06
  9. 1963Born hereHoward Ballard is born here
  10. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 2,052
By decade

Ashland, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s1 item
Bayview trailer park061953Bayview trailer park06
1960s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today17 recent
Gerald Dial at Ashland AL 2021 Transfer of Responsibility (cropped)2021Gerald Dial at Ashland AL 2021 Transfer of Responsibi…AL9 North Sign2018AL9 North SignAshland Alabama2011Ashland AlabamaAshland Court House2009Ashland Court HouseCCHS2007CCHSAshland Elementary2007Ashland ElementaryAshlandTownSquare42004AshlandTownSquare4AshlandTownSquare32004AshlandTownSquare3AshlandTownSquare22004AshlandTownSquare2AshlandTownSquare2004AshlandTownSquareAshland Court House 22000Ashland Court House 2Ashland Alabama downtown 082000Ashland Alabama downtown 08Ashland Alabama downtown 072000Ashland Alabama downtown 07Ashland Alabama downtown 062000Ashland Alabama downtown 06Ashland Alabama downtown 052000Ashland Alabama downtown 05Ashland Alabama downtown 022000Ashland Alabama downtown 02Ashland Alabama downtown 012000Ashland Alabama downtown 01
Every building

Ashland, building by building, 1928

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Ashland fire insurance map, 1928, sheet 11928Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bayview trailer park06
Retake this viewBayview trailer park06, 1953

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ashland’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Ashland

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Hugo Black House
Clay County CourthouseHugo Black House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italian Renaissance1
Neo-Classical Revival1
Clay County CourthouseItalian Renaissance
All 2 listings
Hugo Black HouseBuilding · listed 1973

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Ashland

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Bob RileyAmerican politician · b. 1944
Hiram Wesley EvansImperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan · b. 1881
H
Howard BallardAmerican football player · b. 1963
Jack L. TreadwellUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1919
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Ashland’s post office has been open since 1866.

Gone or out of use
Liberty Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ashland
Ashland CityOld Field

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Ashland’s history

What year was Ashland founded?

The Ashland post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1867.

How does Ashland rank for history?

Ashland is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Ashland?

Two places: the Clay County Courthouse (listed 1976) and the Hugo Black House (1973).

How old are the homes in Ashland?

10% of Ashland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.