Ashland, Kentucky, United States

🇺🇸 Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. Ashland is a principal city of the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, referred to locally as the "Tri-State area". Ashland serves as an important economic and medical centre for north-eastern Kentucky.

History Ashland dates back to the migration of the Poage family from the Shenandoah Valley via the Cumberland Gap in 1786. They erected a homestead along the Ohio River and named it Poage's Landing. Also called Poage Settlement, the community that developed around it remained an extended-family affair until the mid-19th century. In 1854, the city name was changed to Ashland, after Henry Clay's Lexington estate and to reflect the city's growing industrial base. The city's early industrial growth was a result of the Ohio Valley's pig iron industry and, particularly, the 1854 charter of the Kentucky Iron, Coal, and Manufacturing Company by the Kentucky General Assembly. The city was formally incorporated by the General Assembly two years later in 1856. Major industrial employers in the first half of the 20th century included Armco, Ashland Oil and Refining Company, the C&O Railroad, Allied Chemical & Dye Company's Semet Solvay, and Mansbach Steel.

Geography Ashland lies within the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.8 square miles (27.9 km²), of which 10.7 square miles (27.8 km²) is land and 0.039 square miles (0.1 km²), or 0.30%, is water.

Cityscape Ashland's central business district extends from 12th Street to 18th Street, and from Carter Avenue to Greenup Avenue. It includes many historically preserved and notable buildings, such as the Paramount Arts Center and the Ashland Bank Building, which is built to Manhattan height and style standards and serves as a reminder of what Ashland leaders hoped it would become.

Economy American Rolling Mill Co. (ARMCO) opened its steel mill, Ashland Works, in 1922. The facility grew to cover 700 acres (280 ha) along the Ohio River. It set world records in production, and eventually employed about 7,000 people. Local scrap drives were held during World War II to support production at the plant.

ARMCO Steel partnered with Kawasaki Steel Corporation in 1994. AK Steel eventually purchased Armco Steel Inc. At one time Armco employed over 4,000 people at its West Works, Foundry, and Coke Plant. AK Steel employed under 1,000 after the closing of the Foundry and Coke Plant and the downsizing of its West Works. AK shut down completely in 2019.

Annual cultural events and fairs • The Festival of Trees occurs at the Paramount Arts Center every winter • Poage Landing Days • Summer Motion • Winter Wonderland of Lights • Firkin Fest craft beer festival

Historical structures and museums The Paramount Arts Center, an Art Deco style movie theater built in 1930, is located on Winchester Avenue. The converted theater serves as an important venue for the arts in eastern Kentucky and the neighboring sections of Ohio and West Virginia. It is well noted for its Festival of Trees event during the winter season. The Paramount is also devoted to teaching children the importance of the arts. Summer classes are offered for school-age children.

Also along Winchester Avenue is the Highlands Museum and Discovery Center. Among its numerous exhibits, one about Country Music Heritage pays tribute to the music artists from along U.S. Route 23 in Kentucky. Two locals, The Judds from Ashland, and Billy Ray Cyrus from nearby Flatwoods, are included.

The Pendleton Art Center, formed in 2005, is located within the downtown. The works produced include paintings, stained glass, carved gourds, and wood carvings by local artists. They are displayed at the Pendleton the first Friday and Saturday of every month and at other times by appointment.

The Jesse Stuart Foundation, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the literary legacy of Jesse Stuart and other Appalachian writers, was at one time located within an earshot of the Pendleton Arts Center. Jesse Stuart, a well-known 20th-century author, was from nearby Greenup, Kentucky.

Parks and recreation Ashland boasts a 47-acre (190,000 m²) Central Park.

In July 1976, a new10-acre (40,000 m²) park at the former Clyffeside Park was envisioned. Named after Commissioner Johnny Oliverio, it features several baseball diamonds, and is located along Winchester Avenue near 39th Street.

In 2004, the AK Steel Sports Park was constructed along Blackburn Avenue in South Ashland. The sports-oriented park features several baseball diamonds, soccer fields and an incomplete skate park.

Media: Print Ashland is home to two newspapers: The Independent and The Greater Ashland Beacon.

The Daily Independent is a five-day morning daily newspaper which covers the city and the surrounding metropolitan area. In addition, it offers national, state and regional news/sports coverage via reprints of Associated Press and CNHI wire reports and columns. The newspaper is often called "The Independent" or the "Ashland Daily Independent" by locals, as these were its former names. One of the paper's claims to fame is the first printings of a supposed image of Jesus in the clouds of Korea in 1951.

Ashland's other newspaper is The Greater Ashland Beacon. It is a free weekly circular published in full color every Tuesday. "The Beacon", as it is known by locals, is "hyper-local", meaning it is exclusively dedicated to covering the community. Highlights include, but are not limited to, local events, sports results, outdoor recreation and personal interest articles and columns penned by freelance Ashland-area journalists and quasi-celebrities.

Healthcare King's Daughters Medical Center is the fourth largest hospital in Kentucky, the 465-bed for-profit institution is the city's largest employer at over 4,000 employees. It offers numerous inpatient and outpatient services for the region.

In addition to King's Daughters Medical Center, another hospital, the Ashland Tuberculosis Hospital, was located on a hill above U.S. Route 60 in the Western Hills section of the city and opened in 1950. It featured 100 beds and served 18 eastern Kentucky counties. It has long since been closed due to the discovery of antibiotics that successfully treat tuberculosis, eliminating its necessity. The facility has since been used as a state office building and is now owned by Safe Harbor, a secure domestic violence shelter and advocacy center.

Transport: Air Located just north of the city in Worthington is the Ashland Regional Airport. This airport is used for general aviation. The then-named Ashland-Boyd County Airport opened in 1953 and featured a 5,600 ft (1,700 m). runway with a 3,000 ft (910 m). clearance.

Tri-State Airport, located in nearby Ceredo, West Virginia, provides commercial aviation services for the city.

Transport: Rail Amtrak serves Ashland with the three-days-a-week Cardinal, connecting New York City, Washington, Charlottesville, VA, Indianapolis, and Chicago. Westbound trains are scheduled to stop Sunday, Wednesday, Friday in the late evening. Eastbound the stops are early morning Wednesday, Friday, Sunday.

The Amtrak station is located at the Ashland Transportation Center, formerly the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway freight depot, located on 15th Street near the Ohio River. It does not have an Amtrak ticket counter or QuikTrak ticket machine, but E-tickets can be obtained from either Amtrak's website or mobile app.

The C&O freight depot, constructed in 1906 on the former Aldine Hotel site, had become an abandoned derelict. Then in the late 1990s it was renovated to become the city's unified transportation hub.

The former C&O passenger depot, at 11th Street and Carter Avenue, had been completed in 1925 but abandoned in the 1970s in favor of a downsized depot in nearby Catlettsburg. The rail lines to the building have since been removed. Today the building itself serves as the downtown branch of PNC Bank. Passenger rail service was moved from Catlettsburg to the Ashland Transportation Center in March 1998.

Transport: Bus Greyhound Lines is the sole provider of intercity bus transportation out of Ashland. It operates out of the Ashland Transportation Center, along with the Ashland Bus System that provides five local bus routes.

Transport: Road Ashland is served by US 23 and US 60, several state routes, and is in close proximity to US 52 and Interstate 64. The state routes include: • KY 5 never enters the city limits of Ashland, however does serve a sizable area surrounding the city. • KY 168 crosses through the south Ashland region and is referred to as Blackburn Avenue and South Belmont Street. • KY 766 Connects US 60 and 13th Street with KY 5 • KY 1012 is known as Boy Scout Road. • KY 1134