Ashland

By Dale Paige Talley

In 1837, the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad laid its iron-capped wooden rails from Richmond to Aquia Creek. There, passengers could meet a stagecoach that would transport them to the railroad-owned steamship line and cruise up the Potomac to Washington. In between their outset and destination was a boggy, overgrown area known as the Slashes, which seemed the perfect rest stop for weary travelers during the 1850s. The region was renamed Ashland, after native son Henry Clay s home in Kentucky. By 1867, the Civil War had brought economic collapse and a resultant depression, and as a town that had relied on revenue from gambling, horseracing, and other leisure activities, Ashland faced serious challenges to its very existence. Randolph-Macon College, originally in Mecklenburg County, made a deal with Ashland that would save both the town and the nation s oldest Methodist college by reestablishing its campus along their railroad tracks.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Apr 20, 2005
• ISBN: 9781439612880

Book preview

�*�1^book_preview_excerpt.html�X�r#��<��*�.�z#'*Vq�ڬ��%��3f��A�
fq!�<�����ħ3#ґ�[�3�q���n^����͉�:��W��������Ï�Ǜ�[�ě�~��R e�r^�Vפ�ِZ��jל(|W~�2��V�&&����6�"�iT���Z��Iݛ���kf�c����7��a=S8S}��w�V����u#/��?o���g]{���ZZӉz��2N��S;�b;Ĩ�1wlܤ�zR�x���NfK��Xw�B��+�Q��O񥢵q�8\�"x`���*��w&�0�h�����a�+K�?�!h��Ʃ�ˋ?
8����X�أ��V&�e ڸ�vqh�b��Yt���?1����t���˷�J���� ����kv���ɭ)ā%�'@���O��Lu��DA�>�x2��7��{��y�.W^1����V�@�v��M��:4ڤ�T{]���U�uc,�pS6c"������+�תـ�� #D����ԭ�w (����G�{� �f��z/�����Ӡ��8y,A}�8��ā�{p����G�[ �;8�P����S��*�B�]c^/,��C�W+\����0���r�w�}�-24;�K��#��J1k��Ϩ��1'�|�ka k�l+�����d{=j� pg�9W�M�S���وk��7�dh� 5�1�@�f�"�� � �{a�
�?��}�����FZ�9��*4Q�s�0�8- �0}�zWT��x��l,E!s��b��|�mn�b��FRu��r�G�S0f���:Si�
xTgV�Ȉc� ��1���aFᕒ?��=�U��Hb
��
�߰��,�LE$;~�+����TE�������*Y��Y�Ow�淀��Ӛ�Mm!�8X�'B����b��H�N����)���MP%jP��Lu�W��ᝠ�H��Ct�ܤUɷ|I��M�,���!��]�YZ��+v���P �C�8U�B�W)�F��sIcQ�R��9ln��1wc#��}��ϙꇊ��B���qKg}h�/��r�B"4�����D����H���}3�o`�_K���M҇YȒ;�%�%����:? �*�2�Zo��$:[z������=8G��Y-Q�uO;���K��q��E����2�<��aC7�5������⻸ -�L�q9�s�ɜ����8�P���@2H�)3|#0"s��"X��i�h�u[R�0[�6>I��gơ~�Fe���N;tq Չ��0m�8��������N3��q��̝����Qa��L�
+�c����&���s�{�4�����E�� sGڗ��H#�e'o�Ah�Y+�$;�IA:�Z�_���T�͚<��������FW�� =���g��V=�~ǂ<0�c�[q��$.[b�@u�b�D%��U����ѻ��)st��Η���az�@c�V�Á%�Q����9�UK ��c|�X�Qtv\���X�qHd�p���`ޱ�™��� �:&M�l��V�Ћ`Y4<5�R{N����"̭�Q�~�u��"Ft,�N�N�·9��������9��S<\��oOy ��������4��z�t��~���nK�4H�V������:LnC).�E�g�Edf"6e0勔�Z�5�����]Q ܏1����a��Y��2�0?����Q���J�d�q=O�w�� �%8�����\D+oxD�0Q�[���4
�\3/%��h��.@6�A}*���h �yBq*��C�Ȧ�a'ߎ,=����7?����/?���~1�S"5��`�WIʼ�A�������u���@����c�M��ja� ~���Ŀt��/�@Kw��'y��ˀ���?_�)}ҝ�� �l�^&c��T�k��"�`��U���F@e���ޢ0�q�%�K��\/�7���C:���tP�ZTN@�y�_�O����&�q��{���R�z,�i3�H��=�|��#i�h�}|�3�׋ϯ�+�&#s�