First, the train. Then, the resort. Finally, the town. That's the short story of Ashland, a town that owes its existence to a railroad and whose character still is defined by the trains that run through its center. |
CYCLISTS' HAVEN When it comes to cycling in America, all roads lead to Ashland. This college town sits at the only intersection of the nation's two bikeways, Interstate Bicycle Routes 1 and 76. |
TOWN SPIRIT For many who don't know Ashland, it's just a whistle stop on the railroad. But for those who live there, it's a little community knitted together by sidewalks and the common interests of small-town life. |
DINING OUT Small Ashland offers a big array of dining choices, from fast-food franchises to personality-laden local spots, from inexpensive meals to fine dining. |
AMENITIES No one loves a parade more than Anthony Keitt. Each year, he and his wife stake out their perfect spot for both Ashland's Old Fashioned Fourth of July Celebration and Olde Time Holiday Parade. |
PATRIOT FEVER Virginia Street in Ashland buzzes with activity. Children and adults are constantly coming and going, and one of the places many of the Virginia Street residents go on a regular basis is 4 miles west. |
CULTURAL ACTIVITIES In a metro area with 1 million residents, a town with a population under 7,000 may seem an unlikely cultural center. Ashland and nearby points, however, form one of the most active performing-arts scenes in central Virginia. |
TOWN POLICE Ashland is a small town with a major crossroads that can morph into gridlock when there's so much as a fender bender on nearby Interstate 95. |
BUSINESS BASE Cathy Waldrop not only knows her customers at Cross Bros. Inc. by name, she also knows what day of the week they shop for groceries. |
WAL-MART Nearly three years after the arrival of Ashland's Wal-Mart punctuated a firestorm that included Town Council debates, protests and a down-with-Wal-Mart documentary, there are more cars in the discount retailer's parking lot than there are in the Food Lion shopping center just down the road. |
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Exploring Ashland was the first in an occasional series of special limited-distribution sections that will explore communities around the Old Dominion in detail.
Trains (1): About 40 of them roll through the center of town every day. Seven Amtrak passenger trains stop there daily, so many Ashland residents are steps away from making connections to New York or Miami. Getting from one side of town to the other can be a little tougher -- there's no way over or under the tracks, so drivers and pedestrians have to wait for the trains to pass.
Nostalgia: "You can easily imagine Ward and June Cleaver living on Duncan Street, and Beaver and Wally walking to Henry Clay Elementary School," says Town Manager Charles W. Hartgrove. Visitors, including some interstate travelers, come to Ashland to take self-guided walking tours through an environment recalling an earlier, gentler time.
Neighbors: Not only do Ashlanders have them, they actually know them. The houses have porches; people sit on them and greet passers-by. The streets are full of after-dinner strollers, residents walking their dogs, groups of kids riding their bikes. People go shopping on foot.
Trains (2): Ashland, longtime train riders say, is the first attractive scene you'll see out the window south of Boston. The town's grandest antebellum and Victorian homes, known as "the painted ladies," line both sides of the tracks. Residents of these houses spend much of their time straightening pictures on the walls after freight trains rumble along outside their front parlors.
Not suburban: Never, ever, tell Ashlanders they live in a suburb. It is the only incorporated town in the Richmond area. It has its own government and municipal amenities -- sidewalks, street lights, parks, town library, swimming pool, street maintenance, trash pickup -- and a separate set of taxes to support them.
Not urban, either: Where else in the area can you parallel park on a street and walk along a sidewalk to a retailer -- Ashland Feed Store -- to buy feed for your llama or the material you'd need to set up a habitat for deer in the woods behind your home? In some parts of town, cocks crow at dawn and dogs answer enthusiastically, making it unnecessary to own an alarm clock.
Trains (3): Want to get up close and personal with a locomotive or boxcar? Stop by the Ashland-Hanover Visitors Center, the town's old train station, in the center of town. You can stand safely about 6 feet off a long stretch of straight track, along which trains roll at 35 mph. Bring a camera and plenty of film.
The college: Randolph-Macon College, which relocated from Southside Virginia to Ashland shortly after the Civil War, occupies much of the center of town. On and off campus, life revolves around football and basketball games, homecoming and commencement weekends, fraternity and sorority parties and other college activities.
Love a parade: Ashland sure does. It boasts two big ones, at Christmastime and on the Fourth of July. The Strawberry Faire and other outdoor gatherings dot the town's calendar of events.
Home cookin': Ashland may be the only place in greater Richmond where you can choose among Virginia, North Carolina and Texas styles of barbecue under one roof -- that of Virginia Barbeque. A couple of blocks away, The Smokey Pig offers different styles of Virginia barbecue (pork and beef). Hanover tomatoes and other fresh produce can be found in a farmers' market open on summertime Saturday mornings behind the Town Hall. Homemades by Suzanne, a prepared-foods shop and caterer, and Williams Bakery are other Ashland culinary institutions.
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