Ashland is a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
in
Schuylkill County in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, northwest of
Pottsville. It is part of
Northeastern Pennsylvania
Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton, Nanticoke, and Carbon ...
. A small part of the borough also lies in
Columbia County, although all of the population resided in the Schuylkill County portion as of the 2020 census. The borough lies in the
anthracite
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...
coal region
The Coal Region is a region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is known for being home to the largest known deposits of anthracite, anthracite coal in the world with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons.
The region is typically define ...
of eastern Pennsylvania. Settled in 1850, Ashland was incorporated in 1857, and was named for
Henry Clay
Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...
's estate near
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...
. The population in 1900 was 6,438, and in 1940, 7,045, but had dropped to 2,471 at the
2020 census.
Ashland is part of the
Pottsville micropolitan statistical area.
It is the location of Pioneer Tunnel, a tourist attraction featuring a tour of a coal mine on mine cars and a separate
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
steam train ride.
History
For a long time after southern Pennsylvania was settled, the area that is now Ashland was mostly wilderness except for a hotel in the area in 1820. A prominent citizen of the county, Burd S. Patterson, however, predicted that the area would eventually become a prominent mining town. In 1845, John P. Brock and James Hart joined Patterson in buying of land in the Ashland area. In 1846, a group of miners led by Patrick Devine developed
coal seams
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
in veins in the area. However, the town progressed little over the next three years. By 1857, though, the town had 3,500 people, and Ashland became a borough, detaching itself from
Butler Township. The first post office was built in 1853, and the first church was built in 1855.
The "Mothers' Memorial" is located at the junction of
Pennsylvania Route 54
Pennsylvania Route 54 (PA 54) is a state highway which runs for in eastern Pennsylvania. It runs from U.S. Route 15 (US 15), which is three miles (5 km) west of Montgomery, Lycoming County, in the west, to US 209 in Nesquehoning, ...
and
Pennsylvania Route 61
Pennsylvania Route 61 (PA 61) is an state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route is signed on a north–south direction, running from U.S. Route 222 Business (US 222 Bus.) in Reading northwest to US 11/US 15/ ...
. The "Mothers' Memorial" is a bronze reproduction of the famous
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...
artistic painting: "An Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1", commonly known as "
Whistler's Mother
''Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1'', best known under its colloquial name ''Whistler's Mother'' or ''Portrait of Artist's Mother'', is a painting in oils on canvas created by the American-born painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler in 1871. T ...
". The WPA-built "Mothers' Memorial" honors all mothers of the United States and it's the only one of its kind in the
world
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
.
It was designed by the sculptor
Emil Siebern
Emil Siebern (1888 – 1942) was an American sculptor.
He was born in New York City, one of six children – five brothers and one sister – of immigrant German parents and studied art at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in N ...
, carried out by
Julius C. Loester, commissioned and erected during the misery of the
Great Depression in the United States
In the United States, the Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and then spread worldwide. The nadir came in 1931–1933, and recovery came in 1940. The stock market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high un ...
by the Ashland Boys' Association and dedicated on Sunday, September 4, 1938, during Labor Day weekend. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
economic recovery plan of the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
(WPA) carried out the stone masonry work.
The Ashland Boys' Association was an inspirational story of former residents of Ashland who had to leave town for work when the
anthracite
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...
mining failed in the late 1800s. Ashland men returned home every
Labor Day
Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...
weekend for little more than a century to visit the old hometown and march in the grand Ashland Boys' Association Mummers' Parade. This unique show of attachment to family, friends, and comforts of home erected the WPA-built Mothers' Memorial statue that became the Ashland Boys' Association's legacy – an American icon and a symbol of
motherhood
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gesta ...
in the United States. The Ashland Boys' Association was honored with a State Historical Marker () by the
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares for ...
on August 31, 2013.
![Ashland PA looking Downtown](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Ashland_PA_looking_Downtown.jpg)
Goyne Brothers was a family owned firm that came into existence in 1881. Goyne Brothers which later changed the name in 1903 to Goyne Steam
Pump
A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they u ...
Company were manufacturers of general mining machinery, and in 1883, they determined to make the manufacture of mining pumps as a specialty.
The Goyne Steam Pump Company in 1911, became known as one of the most substantial exclusive mine pump manufacturing plants in the United States.
The importance of coal mining drainage launched out mine pumpers exclusively and the Goyne Steam Pump Company invented, engineered, manufactured, and sold over 250 different mining pump designs and sizes, ranging from single pump up to the largest compound condensing duplex machines practicable for mining purposes throughout the
anthracite
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...
and
bituminous coal
Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the seams. It ...
regions of Pennsylvania, and the United States. The Goyne Steam Pump Company changed the name to Goyne Pump Company in 1955, and the company was purchased in 1979 by Goulds Pumps.
The
Ashland Greens were an independent basketball franchise in Ashland. The Ashland Greens played the
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
in the Ashland High School Gymnasium. The team was owned by Green's Dairy.
Pennsylvania Route 61
Pennsylvania Route 61 (PA 61) is an state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route is signed on a north–south direction, running from U.S. Route 222 Business (US 222 Bus.) in Reading northwest to US 11/US 15/ ...
takes a detour just north of Ashland, where a "Keep Out" sign straddles the original highway that used to lead to the abandoned town of
Centralia
Centralia may refer to:
Places Australia
*Central Australia, sometimes called "Centralia"
Canada
* Centralia, Ontario
** RCAF Station Centralia, a former Royal Canadian Air Force training base
** Centralia (Essery Field) Aerodrome
United State ...
, where an underground
mine fire
A coal-seam fire is a burning of an outcrop or underground coal seam. Most coal-seam fires exhibit smouldering combustion, particularly underground coal-seam fires, because of limited atmospheric oxygen availability. Coal-seam fire instances ...
has been burning since 1962.
Points of interest
Mothers’ Memorial (Whistler's Mother Statue)North Hoffman BoulevardAshland Boys’ Association Pennsylvania Historical MarkerNorth Hoffman BoulevardPioneer Tunnel Coal Mine and Steam Train19th and Oak StreetsAshland Area Historic Preservation Society Museum316-318 Centre Street*Station House
5th and Chestnut Street*Dr. J. L. Hoffman Memorial
South Hoffman Blvd and Spruce StreetThe Museum of Anthracite MiningS. 19th Street(adjacent to Pioneer Tunnel)
*Military Veterans Monument
Hoffman Blvd and Centre Street*World War I Field Piece
5th and Chestnut StreetWashington Fire Company Historic Bell Tower/Fog Horn1307 Centre Street*Ashland Town Clock
5th and Centre StreetsAshland Little LeagueEureka Park
Geography
![Ashland PA 1st Presby PHS021](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Ashland_PA_1st_Presby_PHS021.jpg)
Ashland is located along the northern boundary of Schuylkill County at (40.781587, -76.344426).
A small portion of the borough, comprising less than 1% of its area, extends north into Columbia County.
Butler Township of Schuylkill County borders Ashland to the east, south, and west, while
Conyngham Township of Columbia County borders the borough to the north. According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, Ashland has a total area of , all land.
Ashland is served by
Pennsylvania Route 54
Pennsylvania Route 54 (PA 54) is a state highway which runs for in eastern Pennsylvania. It runs from U.S. Route 15 (US 15), which is three miles (5 km) west of Montgomery, Lycoming County, in the west, to US 209 in Nesquehoning, ...
and
Pennsylvania Route 61
Pennsylvania Route 61 (PA 61) is an state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route is signed on a north–south direction, running from U.S. Route 222 Business (US 222 Bus.) in Reading northwest to US 11/US 15/ ...
. PA 54 leads east-northeast to
Girardville and to
Shenandoah, and northwest to
Elysburg
Elysburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in Ralpho Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is seventy miles north of Harrisburg. The population was 2,194 at the 2010 census. The area's biggest attraction is Knoebels Am ...
. PA 61 leads north to
Centralia
Centralia may refer to:
Places Australia
*Central Australia, sometimes called "Centralia"
Canada
* Centralia, Ontario
** RCAF Station Centralia, a former Royal Canadian Air Force training base
** Centralia (Essery Field) Aerodrome
United State ...
and then west farther to
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...
, and east to Frackville. The two highways share Centre Street, the main street through Ashland.
The majority of Ashland is
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
, with an urban area in the center. Most of the borough's terrain is steep hills, but the hills are gentler near the center. The southern border of the borough follows the top of Ashland Mountain, which rises above the center of town, except where
Mahanoy Creek
Mahanoy Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in Northumberland and Schuylkill counties, Pennsylvania. There are ...
, a tributary of the
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...
, passes through a
water gap
A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a prac ...
in the mountain in the southeast part of the borough.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 2,817 people, 1,301 households, and 776 families living in the borough. There were 1,677 housing units with a vacancy rate of 22.4%. The racial makeup of the borough was 98.2% White, 0.2% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.3% Asian, and 0.2% other. 1.0% were from two or more races, and Hispanic or Latino were 1.0% of any race.
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000,
there were 3,283 people, 1,437 households, and 863 families living in the borough. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 1,886 people per square mile (728.5/km²). There were 1,724 housing units at an average density of 990.4 per square mile (382.6/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 99.39%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.21%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.09%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.06% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.24% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 0.09% of the population.
Of the 1,437 households 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.9% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 3.00.
21.1% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.1% from age 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $27,234, and the median income for a family was $34,688. Males had a median income of $30,500 versus $20,920 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the borough was $15,036. About 11.1% of families and 12.8% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 16.1% of those under age 18 and 13.4% of those age 65 or over.
Education
All school-age residents of Ashland attend North Schuylkill School, along
Pennsylvania Route 61
Pennsylvania Route 61 (PA 61) is an state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route is signed on a north–south direction, running from U.S. Route 222 Business (US 222 Bus.) in Reading northwest to US 11/US 15/ ...
located at 15 Academy Lane Ashland (physical address) in nearby Butler Township. The school comprises one elementary school building (K-6) and one upper campus high school (7-12).
Notable people
*
Janet Asimov
Janet Opal Asimov (née Jeppson; August 6, 1926 – February 25, 2019), usually written as J. O. Jeppson, was an American science fiction writer, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst.
She started writing children's science fiction in the 1970s. She w ...
, American science fiction writer, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst
* Tom Burns, member of the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame
*
Bill Dando, professional football coach and player
*
Mickey Doolan
Michael Joseph "Mickey" Doolin (May 7, 1880 in Ashland, Pennsylvania – November 1, 1951 in Orlando, Florida), was a professional baseball player who played shortstop in the Major Leagues from 1905 to 1918. During his career, he played for the ...
, professional baseball player and coach
*
Dennis Joseph Dougherty
Dennis Joseph Dougherty (August 16, 1865 – May 31, 1951) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1918 until his death in 1951, and was made a cardinal in 1921. He was Philadelphia's longest ...
, Archbishop of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It covers the City and County of Philadelphia as well as ...
, and Cardinal
*
Woody Erdman Ellis E. "Woody" Erdman (April 16, 1926, Ashland, Pennsylvania – February 10, 1997, Greensboro, North Carolina) was an American sportscaster, television producer, and businessman who served as chairman of Trans-National Communications, Internat ...
, American sportscaster, television producer, and businessman
*
Alfred Buckwalter Garner, Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
*
Griffith J. Griffith
Griffith Jenkins Griffith (January 4, 1850 – July 6, 1919) was a Welsh-born American industrialist and philanthropist. After amassing a significant fortune from a mining syndicate in the 1880s, Griffith donated to the City of Los Angeles wh ...
, Welsh-American industrialist and philanthropist
*
Robert Douglas Heaton, Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
*
Doggie Julian
Alvin Fred "Doggie" Julian (April 5, 1901 – July 28, 1967) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Muhlenberg College from 1936 to 1945, at the College of the Holy Cross fr ...
, Hall of Fame basketball coach
*
Carson Long
Carson Gerald Long (born December 16, 1954) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at University of Pittsburgh.
He played 9 games in 1977 and m ...
, NFL Player (Buffalo Bills), Member
1976 NCAA National Champion University of Pittsburgh Panthers Football team
*
George Robert Patterson, Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
*
Edmund William Samuel, Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
*
Emil Seidel
Emil Seidel (December 13, 1864 – June 24, 1947) was a prominent German-American politician. Seidel was the mayor of Milwaukee from 1910 to 1912. The first Socialist mayor of a major city in the United States, Seidel became the Vice Presidential ...
, mayor of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
, and first socialist mayor of a major U.S. city
*
Robert Spencer, doctor and safe abortion provider
*
Charles W. Staudenmeier, Republican member of the PA House of Representatives and State Senate, Schuykill County Court Judge of Common Pleas (1947-1967)
*
Jack Stivetts
John Elmer Stivetts (March 31, 1868 – April 18, 1930) was a professional baseball pitcher who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning from 1889 to 1899. He played in the American Association ...
, professional baseball player
*
William J. Waltersheid, Bishop of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh
The Diocese of Pittsburgh ( la, Diœcesis Pittsburgensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in Western Pennsylvania established on August 11, 1843. The diocese includes 61 parish-groupings (107 chur ...
References
External links
Borough of Ashland official website
{{authority control
Populated places established in 1820
1857 establishments in Pennsylvania
Municipalities of the Anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania
Bloomsburg–Berwick metropolitan area
Boroughs in Columbia County, Pennsylvania
Boroughs in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania
Coal towns in Pennsylvania