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History · Ashland

Ashland dates to 1881, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Ashland was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listing is the Shy Brothers Mercantile. Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1941 on.

1881founded
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ashland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ashland began

When was Ashland founded?

1881

Ashland dates its founding to 1881 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1886.

2020 census: 773145 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1886.

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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ 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 viewDude at rodeo. Ashland, Montana: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Ashland, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ashland yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Ashland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Ashland had a population of 773. Ashland is immediately east of the boundary of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and also along the Tongue River. It is the location of the St. Labre Indian Catholic High School, established in 1884 as a boarding school by a Catholic mission to the Cheyenne. The town was established in 1881 and called Straders after the first postmaster. The name was changed to Ashland in 1886.

Ashland was established in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 824 to 773 (-6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Ashland, 1881 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881
    FoundingAshland is established
  3. 1886Post officeThe Ashland post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1941In the archiveDude at rodeo. Ashland, Montana
By decade

Ashland, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s4 items
Dude at rodeo. Ashland, Montana1941Dude at rodeo. Ashland, MontanaCowhand at Ashland rodeo, Montana1941Cowhand at Ashland rodeo, MontanaDudes at annual rodeo. Ashland, Montana1941Dudes at annual rodeo. Ashland, MontanaSheriff at rodeo1941Sheriff at rodeo
1950s–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
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.

Dude at rodeo. Ashland, Montana
Retake this viewDude at rodeo. Ashland, Montana, 1941

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

1 historic place in Ashland

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2025
Shy Brothers Mercantile
Shy Brothers Mercantile
Buildings
All 1 listings
Shy Brothers MercantileBuilding · listed 2025

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Ashland’s post office has been open since 1886.

Gone or out of use
Bowers Ranchlocale

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?

In 1881, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ashland’s post office opened in 1886.

What is on the National Register in Ashland?

One place: the Shy Brothers Mercantile (listed 2025).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.