Businesses
1857 – Thumbs Up from Alexandria
Posted on Sep 08, 2012 by Nancy.
Here is a transcription of a letter published in the Alexandria Gazette on August 25, 1857. According to the Library of Congress, this newspaper was published in Alexandria, VA, from 1834 to 1974. The author of the letter is unknown since it is signed only with the word, “Union”. A link to an image of the [...]
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1903 – The Telephone Comes to Ashland
Posted on Jan 18, 2012 by Nancy.
In 1903 the telephone came to Ashland. Julia Weisiger was the manager of the telephone exchange from that time until she retired 35 years later when the C&P Telephone Company installed a new automatic dialing system. Under the old manual system, Julia served as the day operator, and one of Dr. Daniel S. Ellis’ sons [...]
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A Visit to Ashland – 1860
Posted on Aug 30, 2012 by Nancy.
Here is a transcription of a letter published in the Daily National Intelligencer on May 23, 1860. This newspaper was published in Washington, D.C., from about 1800 to 1870. The author of the letter is unknown since it is signed only with the initials A.M. A link to an image of the original letter from the [...]
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After 1923 – Railroad Avenue looking north
Posted on Apr 07, 2010 by admin.
In 1920′s, several new buildings have appeared in the commercial district. The first building visible at the left edge of the photo, on the south side of Thompson St., is the “new” Cox Department store. Today, the Ironhorse restaurant occupies the ground floor of this building. A Safeway Grocery is on the northwest corner of [...]
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Ashland at the Turn of the Century
Posted on Apr 07, 2010 by admin.
This photograph of Ashland’s business district looking south from the intersection of Railroad and College Avenues was taken just after the turn of the century. The passenger station on the left was built by the Richmond Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad in 1866. The tower supplied water for steam engines. The freight depot is hidden by [...]
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Ashland Racecourse
Posted on Jan 24, 2011 by Nancy.
At some point in the 1850′s, the president of the Richmond Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad Company, Edwin Robinson, established a racecourse in Ashland. The only indication left of the racecourse is in a street name, “Race Course Street” in the southwest part of town, perpendicular to the railroad tracks. Races were held at the Ashland [...]
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Barnes Drug Store
Posted on Aug 20, 2012 by Nancy.
In 1899, pharmacist C.A. Barnes bought out a pharmacy owned by Woolfolk and Ellis. He established Barnes Drug Store just north of Thompson St on the west side of the railroad tracks. The facade of the U.S. Post Office storefront is visible at the right edge of the photo below. A few years later, the [...]
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Business Section, Ashland, VA, early 20th century
Posted on Apr 07, 2010 by admin.
This photo shows the west side of the tracks, south of Thompson St. The Cox store is outside the photo frame to the right, at the corner of S. Railroad Ave. and Thompson St. As you can see, Railroad Ave. was not yet paved. Meyberg’s, on the far right, has the store name on the [...]
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Cross Bros. Grocery
Posted on May 08, 2012 by Nancy.
Cross Bros. Grocery began serving the community of Ashland in May 1912, under the ownership of brothers Herbert J. and Walter N. Cross. At that time, a pound of flour cost 15 cents and a quart of milk cost 9 cents. The original frame structure was located along the railroad tracks that went through the [...]
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D.B. Cox Department Store
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 by Nancy.
D.B. Cox Department Store of Ashland, A Nutshell History The D.B. Cox Department Store was the anchor of the Ashland downtown area from 1867 to 1955. When it was sold, it was the oldest business in Ashland and was the oldest in Hanover County in continuous ownership by one family. It was begun after the [...]
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Ella Cinders’ Tea Room
Posted on May 06, 2013 by Nancy.
Ella Cinders’ Tea Room was located at the southwest corner of Myrtle Street and Route 1. In 1934, a customer wrote to a friend on this postcard, “The room is nice with steam heat and running water in the room.” The building was torn down, and AutoZone is now on the site. The Tea Room [...]
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Hanover National Bank
Posted on Feb 07, 2013 by Nancy.
On February 5, 1903, Hanover National Bank of Ashland was established in Ashland, VA (according to bank history records maintained by the FFIEC). Hanover Bank’s first home was a little frame building erected north of Thompson St., near the post office. It was Hanover County’s first bank. In 1919, the bank built an impressive brick [...]
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Hughes Drug
Posted on Nov 08, 2010 by Nancy.
After graduating from the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) School of Pharmacy, James Goodrich (J.G.) Hughes moved to Ashland from Cumberland County, VA. He opened Hughes Drug and married Nannie B. Luckett in 1889. Pharmacists of this era mixed chemicals and natural products by hand to make drugs in liquid or pill form often containing [...]
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Meyberg’s Store
Posted on Aug 20, 2012 by Nancy.
Before 1900, L.E.W. Meyberg, an immigrant to the United States from Germany, had been a clerk in various Ashland shops. In 1894, he had saved enough money to rent this building and establish his own business. He was listed as a “notions” merchant in the 1900 census, but Ashland’s children of that time remembered him [...]
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Reconstruction, the Great Fire and the early 1900′s
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 by Nancy.
At the end of the Civil War, Ashland, Hanover County and much of the South were bankrupt. But, when Randolph-Macon College came to town, the town of Ashland experience a building boom. New businesses were established to serve the residents, college students, faculty and staff. When it became evident that the college would remain on [...]