Ashland

Ashland is a town in Hanover County, Virginia, located 16 miles (26 km) north of Richmond along Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 7,225, up from 6,619 at the 2000 census. The town was named after native son Henry Clay's estate in Kentucky and was officially incorporated on February 19, 1858. The area had been known as "The Slashes", sometimes translated as "swamp", but which also reflected the small ravines that formed in the sandy clay soil after hard rains. Confederate troops trained on the former racetrack early in the American Civil War, but the war and its aftermath devastated Ashland. On October 19, 2002, Ashland made national news as the site of one of the D.C. sniper attacks. A final edition of The Herald-Progress published its final edition, 2018, on March 29, when the snipers were identified as Jeffrey Hopper, 37, and his wife. The final edition was published the next day, on April 1, when Hopper was released from the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. Ashland is located at 37°45N 77°40W (37°28W38W361, 77°47W) The town is located near the center of Hanover. County. It is the only incorporated town inHanover County. Although comprising only one square mile when originally incorporated in 1858, today Ashland has grown through several annexations to a size of 7.16 square miles (18.5 km²) in terms of land area.

History

The town was named "Ashland" after native son Henry Clay's estate in Kentucky and was officially incorporated on February 19, 1858. The area had been known as "The Slashes", sometimes translated as "swamp", but which also reflected the small ravines that formed in the sandy clay soil after hard rains. Confederate troops trained on the former racetrack early in the American Civil War, but the war and its aftermath devastated Ashland. On October 19, 2002, Ashland made national news as the site of one of the D.C. sniper attacks. The local newspaper, The Herald-Progress, published its final edition on March 29, 2018. The town now also has an Eastern Orthodox congregation, St. Andrew's (2001), and a messianic Jewish congregation (Beth Shalom Ministries, 2004) The town's current Episcopal church is St. James the Less, on the other side of the railway line from Slash Church and whose congregation received monthly clergy visitations in the 1850s, and which in 1958 sold its 1866-consecrated and once-moved building as well as the old rectory in order to build a larger one on the town's outskirts. One of Virginia's oldest churches is 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Ashland: Slash Church, built as the Upper Church of St. Paul's Parish in 1729 remains a house of worship, though now used by the Disciples of Christ. The Richmond and Chesapeake Bay Railway, as it came to be called, was abandoned in 1938.

Geography

Ashland is located near the center of Hanover County at 37°4534N 77°2838W (37.759361, 77.477226) U.S. Route 1 leads north 8 miles (13 km) to Doswell and south 16 miles (26 km)to Richmond. Interstate 95 passes through the town limits further to the east, with access from Exit 92. According to the United States Census Bureau, Ashland has a total area of 7.2 square miles (18.6 km²), of which 0.03 sq miles (0.08 km²) is water. Ashland is drained to the north by tributaries of the South Anna River, part of the Pamunkey and York River watershed, and to the south by tributes of the Chickahominy River,part of the James River watershed. The town is home to the Virginia State Museum, which is located in the historic town of Montpelier. It is also home to Virginia's oldest public library, the Virginia Shakespeare Center, which dates back to 17th century. The Ashland Post Office, which opened in 1881, is located on the corner of Main Street and Main Street in Ashland. The post office is open seven days a week and serves the town of Ashland and the surrounding area. It has been closed since the 1950s, when the post office was moved to a new location in the city of Richmond. The Post Office is now closed and replaced by a new building.

Climate

The climate in this area is humid subtropical (Cfa) and is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cold winters. Average monthly temperatures range from 36.4 °F in January to 77.4°F in July. The hardiness zone is 7a. The climate is very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. It is very humid in the spring and summer, and very dry in the autumn and winter. The weather is hot and humid in most of the year, but more so in July and August. The average temperature in July is 77.5 °F, and in January it is 36.2 °F. The coldest month is July, with average temperatures of 26.7 °F (Fahrenheit) and 26.2°F (Celsius) in July, and the coldest temperature in January is 26.3 °F (-1.7°F). The average monthly temperature is 77 °F, with the warmest month being July, when it is 76 °C (F) and the coolest month being August, when the temperature is 72 °D (F), with the average temperature of 77.3°F (-2.0°F) (F). It is hot in summer because of the high humidity, but cooler in winter because the temperatures are milder. The temperature is hot because the climate is humid, with high humidity in the summers and low temperatures in the winters. The hotest month in the year is July.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 7225 people with 2,863 households in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 71.1% White, 22.2% African American, 0.4% Native American, 1.2%, 0.68% Asian, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.7% of the population. The median income for a household in theTown was $46,474. The per capita income for the Town was $23,569. About 5.9% of people in the Town were below the poverty line. The town is located on the U.S.-Mexico border and is on the border between Mexico and New Mexico. It is located at the junction of the Mississippi River and the Arkansas River. It has a population of 7225 and is located near the border with New Mexico, New Mexico and South Dakota. The population of the Town of New Mexico was 7225 as of the 2010 census, and it is at the center of the New Mexico-Mississippi border. The Town of Nacogdoches is located just to the south of theTown of Nocogdoche. It was the site of the first U.N. post office, established in 1881. It also was the first post office in the state, opening in 1883. It closed in 1891. It reopened in 1894 and was the location of the National Park Service, which is still there today.

Public services

Ashland is governed by a five-member town council, and day-to-day activities are run by a town manager. Hanover County handles stormwater pollutant removal and filtration. The Ashland Volunteer Fire Company, formed in 1890, is located on 501 Archie Canon Drive. The town's library is part of the multi-county Pamunkey Regional Library System, although additional libraries are at the courthouse and Randolph Macon College. TheAshland Police Department has 25 sworn full-time officers and is Law Enforcement Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA). The town is home to the Ashland Fire Department, which has been in existence since 1890. The fire department is based at the town's courthouse, which is located at 501 Archie Canon Drive, and has a fire station at the center of the town, on the second floor of the courthouse. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or see www.samaritans.org. For support in the U.S., call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255 or visit http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/. For help in the UK, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or  visit the London Samaritans, on Oxford Street, London, England.

Transportation

Ashland's major highway connection is to I-95 at exit 92, via Virginia State Route 54. Commercial airline service is provided at Richmond International Airport, 26 miles (42 km) distant, and general aviation is served by Hanover County Municipal Airport, 5 miles (8 km) south of downtown. Ashland's railroad station is servedby Amtrak Northeast Regional trains bound for Richmond, Newport News and Norfolk. Other Amtrak long-distance trains, such as the Silver Meteor and Auto Train to Florida, pass through Ashland without stopping on the CSX railroad's double-track mainline that bisects the downtown business district.Proposals in the 2016 "DC2RVA" study to improve rail service between Washington, D.C., and Richmond have prompted concerns about its impact on the prized ambiance of downtown Ashland. The Main Street merchants' association said at a hearing that the additional track would result in "incalculable loss to the city's "charm, the quaintness, and the aesthetic values". The city is home to the RandolphMacon College campus and the houses and businesses facing the tracks. The town is located on the banks of the Rappahannock River, a tributary of the Potomac River. It is located in the Shenandoah Valley, which runs through the eastern part of the state. The city has a population of 2,000, with the majority of its residents living in or near the town of Ashland, Virginia.

Local attractions and events

Ashland's tourist information center is located at the Ashland railroad station. Pufferbelly Park features playground facilities and the town's public skatepark, which opened in 2004. In 2014, Movoto.com named Ashland one of America's 10 best small towns. The "Ashland Musical Variety Show" is a biennial talent show held in odd years. It features songs and skits performed by area residents and raises funds for the Hanover Arts & Activities Center in Ashland. The town's main festival has been the "Strawberry Faire" in June, at which vendors from around the state sell a variety of different items (with a strawberry theme) Ashland Train Day is a family-friendly annual festival held on the last Saturday in April. With the Quiet Zone rules in suspension, visitors are treated to frequent CSX freight trains and Amtrak passenger trains sounding off. Ten Hanover County Schools students each year receive Strawberry Faire scholarships. In 2009, Bloomberg Business in 2009 named Ashlands "Best Place to Raise your Kids" in Virginia. It was named one of the top 10 small towns in the U.S. in 2014. It is located in the Shenandoah Valley, which is home to the Virginia Museum of Natural History and the Virginia Tech Museum of Science and Technology. It has a population of about 2,000 people, with a population growth rate of 1.7 percent per year, according to the 2010 census. It's located on Virginia's Eastern Seaboard.

In popular culture

Scenes from the 1995 film Major Payne were shot at Ashland's railroad station. The station is still used as a train station today. Ashland is located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The town has a population of about 2,000. It is located on the Oregon-Washington border and was once part of the Oregon Territory. The railroad station was built in the early 1900s. It was named after Ashland, Oregon, a town in the state's eastern part. The train station was also used for the filming of the movie Major Payne, which was set in Ashland in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Ashland, Hanover County, Virginia = 38.5. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 80. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 61. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Ashland = 4.4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 14,455 individuals with a median age of 34.5 age the population grows by 7.13% in Ashland, Hanover County, Virginia population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,094.05 residents per square mile of area. There are average 2.36 people per household in the 2,498 households with an average household income of $44,241 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 6.20% of the available work force and has dropped -3.52% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 26.76%. The number of physicians in Ashland per 100,000 population = 146.9.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Ashland = 42.7 inches and the annual snowfall = 15.3 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 99. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 207. 87 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 25.3 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 42, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Ashland, Hanover County, Virginia which are owned by the occupant = 53.83%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 29 years with median home cost = $163,450 and home appreciation of -5.68%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $6.41 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,269 per student. There are 12.8 students for each teacher in the school, 457 students for each Librarian and 400 students for each Counselor. 6.33% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 11.51% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 9.18% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).