The Ashley post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mount Pleasant (1830), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 94191 years
Founding year: the first Ashley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Ashley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ashley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Ashley is a census-designated place in Pike County, Missouri, United States. It has a population of 94 in the 2020 census. It is located on Route 161, approximately six miles south of Bowling Green. Ashley was platted in 1836. The community was named for William Henry Ashley, who served as lieutenant governor in the 1820s. A post office called Ashley was established in 1835, and remained in operation until 1965.
Its first post office opened in 1835. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 90 to 94 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Ashley, 1830 to 1965
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the 12th day of October, 1S30, he came to Pike county and settled near the town of Ashley, but in the spring of 1S32 he enlisted in Captain Mace's company as a soldier in the Black Hawk War. In the spring of 1833 he eniraged in selling; ffoods in the town of Bowlinfr Green, in which place there were then but three stores, including his own. fie continued to merchandise here until 1839, wlien he began to handle produce and to buy and sell stock, in which avocation he continued for some time. Mr. Hell was married May 1, 18-12, to Miss Martha Robinson, of this county, but form-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1856 our subject removeiJ Jo the town of Ashley, where for about eight years he followed the avocation of a merchant, lie returned to his farm in 1863, and has since continued to reside there. His farm is situated two and a half miles from Ashley, and contains 272 acres of rich and well improved land ^vh!ch yields annually a rich return for the labor bestowed upon it. Mr. Ihyant is a xeulous friend of th.e cause of education and to advance this interest in the community where he lives he several years since, in compaTiy with his brotlier Walter, started a private school of a high grade
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
