Tag Archives: Trains
The Birth of a Museum
Posted on Mar 31, 2010 by admin.
Out of the enthusiasm that came from the town’s year-long 150th Birthday Celebration in 2008, came the idea that we could no longer exist without a proper history and culture museum. The 150th Birthday projects–the collection of oral histories, the yearbook of families, the children’s historical play, and the final exhibit of all the photos [...]
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Our Mission and Vision
Posted on Mar 31, 2010 by admin.
Our Mission: To acquire, document, protect and preserve, and exhibit the unique physical and culture history which reflects the story of the Town of Ashland, Virginia. The Museum’s additional, but not lesser mission, is to research, exhibit, promote and publicize the rich historical and cultural heritage of the town for the benefit of residents and [...]
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“Ashland in Detail” – Scavenger Hunt
Posted on Nov 10, 2012 by Nancy.
Twelve photographs of architectural details or sections of items located within a one block radius of The Ashland Museum have been compiled. Using the photo sheet for Adults or Kids, walk about and locate or identify each item. Pick up an photo sheet at the Ashland Museum or print a copy from the PDF posted [...]
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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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1918 – Influenza Strikes Ashland and the College Hard
Posted on Jan 18, 2012 by Nancy.
While death in battle threatened our soldiers “Over There” during World War I, an outbreak of the influenza in 1918 threatened the lives of those at home. “Boys died like flies,” recalled resident Nancy Shackelford. She remembered that the college doctor depended upon volunteer help to care for the students. “He said that half of [...]
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1943 Ashland High School Football Team
Posted on Feb 14, 2011 by Nancy.
1943 Ashland High School Football Team. Front row, from left, Ray Harlow, Chastine Mallory and Clifford White. Second row, from left, Archie “Joe Justice” Cannon, Jimmy Pollard, Billy Buchanan, Tom Mills, James Meharg. Back row, from left, Argyle Haley, Hill “Twig” Mallory, Edwin Bailey, Will Campbell, Jimmy “Punch” Taylor, coach Taylor Sanford, Sonny “P.K.” Perrin, [...]
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805 South Center St.
Posted on Feb 11, 2011 by Nancy.
This is how the house at 805 South Center St. looked in the late 1920′s.
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A Soldier’s Life at Camp Ashland – May to December 1861
Posted on Jan 24, 2011 by Nancy.
The Camp Ashland opened as a training camp for general soldiers in early May 1861, but by mid-May it was used exclusively for cavalry training. First Col. Richard S. Ewell, Gen. Robert Chilton, and then Col. Charles H Field commanded the camp. It was early in the war and soldiers’s spirits where high. Captain Thomas [...]
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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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Antebellum Resort to Civil War Town: Ashland Virginia from 1836 to 1865
Posted on Nov 01, 2012 by Nancy.
The museum’s first exhibit, “Antebellum Resort to Civil War Town: Ashland Virginia from 1836 to 1865” takes visitors from Ashland’s beginnings as Slash Cottage railroad resort to its Civil War experience. The exhibit includes a display of the Dawson family and the Civil War bullet they found in a fireplace while renovating an antebellum home [...]
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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 Baptist Church
Posted on Mar 01, 2010 by admin.
In 1859, a congregation of like-minded community members formed Ashland Baptist Church, and built themselves a small one room church. For 104 years, the building served the community as a church with the exception during the Civil War when it was used as a temporary hospital. On the day the building was dedicated, there were [...]
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Ashland Brand Tomatoes
Posted on May 24, 2011 by Nancy.
The Ashland Tomato Farm was operated by W.A. Harrison around the turn of the century on Route 54 east of Ashland, near the Hanover County Cannery. The labels came from that farming operation and date from between 1890 to 1910. The Ashland Museum has come across a significant number of these original, historic labels that [...]
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Ashland Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Posted on Aug 21, 2012 by Nancy.
In the mid-1880s a group of seven people felt called to build a Disciples of Christ Church in Ashland. The seven people who stepped out in faith were Dr. and Mrs. Callom Bohannan Jones, Mrs. Indiana W. Carpenter, Miss Josephine T. Wingfield, Mrs. Nannie Cross Delarue, Miss Sallie C. Tinsley and Mr. James W. Taylor. [...]
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Ashland During the Civil War, 1861-1865
Posted on Jul 21, 2011 by Nancy.
Henry Clay had tried during his lifetime to help the North and the South remain united even with differences between the rural economy based on slavery in the South and the more urban economy based on industrialization in the North. After Mr. Clay’s death in 1852, the rift between North and South widened, and positions [...]