Postcards donated: above is a rare color picture ^ looking East from just west of 15th & Silver Street corner; pre 1917 when streets were paved
Postcard shown below is a photo taken just west of 14th Street, looking West, from the same time period
The photo above, is from the AHS-SFHPS postcard collection, recently donated by Dick Harnsberger, looking east from 15th & Silver, circa 1911.
Silver Street is now paved . . . and ‘horseless carriages’ have replaced the buggy J Come visit Beautiful Historic Ashland . . lots of FREE parking . .
We WELCOME you to our NEW Home & Headquarters !
OPEN 1 – 4 pm Thursdays and upon request.
also Open 1-4 Sundays – May through October
located in the former Ashland (Carnegie) Public Library building becoming the Ashland History Museum [ AHM]
The address is 207 North 15th Street
The Ashland History Museum [ AHM ], circa 2015
formerly the Ashland (Carnegie) Public Library, circa 1911
The Ashland History Museum [AHM]
held its Inaugural Open House Oct 10th & 11th, 2015
The [AHS] & [AHM] have established OPEN HOUSE hours as follows:
Each Thursday afternoon from 1 to 4 PM all year, excluding holidays.
Each Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4 PM, from MAY through OCT, excluding holidays.
Requests for Tours at other times/days may be made
by e-mail to AncestryInfoAHS@gmail.com
the ACRC . . the Ashland Community Resource Center & Library – opened JAN 2015.
GRAND OPENING & Dedication of the ACRC & Library < was held February 7th, 2015
The Ashland Gazette article ^ above, shares the story, event & several pictures.
(Grateful acknowledgment to Suzi Nelson, Editor, Ashland Gazette)
We Wish You a Historically Good Day ! ! sm
INFO@AshlandHistoricalSociety.info
of the Ashland NE community and area
Ashland NE was founded in 1857. The name Ashland is credited to an ardent admirer of Henry Clay * who was “charmed with the natural beauty of the scenery & its seeming advantage of becoming a future city.” Clay’s home, Ashland, Kentucky, was honored.
He was a dominant figure in both the first and Second Party Systems. As a leading war hawk, he favored war with Britain and played a significant role in leading the nation to war in 1812.He was a major supporter of the American System, fighting for an increase in tariffs to foster industry in the United States, the use of federal funding to build and maintain infrastructure, and a strong national bank. Dubbed the “Great Compromiser,” he brokered important compromises during the Nullification Crisis and on the slavery issue, especially in 1820 and 1850, during which he was part of the “Great Triumvirate” or “Immortal Trio,” along with his colleagues Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun. He was viewed as the primary representative of Western interests in this group, and was given the names “Henry of the West” and “The Western Star.” In 1957, a Senate committee chaired by John F. Kennedy named Clay as one of the five greatest senators in U.S. history. In his early involvement in Illinois politics and as a fellow Kentucky native, Abraham Lincoln was a great admirer of Clay.
With acknowledgement to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, the information above, gives a brief bio of Henry Clay, Sr.
Our Thursday afternoon Open House gatherings have been a HUGE success !
Please join us for the sharing of Ashland History this coming THU afternoon!
located at 207 North 15th Street – in the former
Ashland (Carnegie) Public Library building [circa 1911]
FIND US ON FACEBOOK !
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
JOIN US as a “FRIEND” of “Ashland Historical Society – Ashland NE”
SEVERAL new homes have been ADDED
to our Historic Homes -Ashland NE < link (2012-2015):
* * FALES – LEDWITH – MAYFIELD HOUSE
* * The DAVID & AGNES DEAN HOUSE
courtesy of Glimpses of The Past – Lillian Bailey
* * SAUNDERS COUNTY COURTHOUSE
* von MANSFELDE HOME
* QUALITY HILL
* LUTTON HOME
1925 Adams Street
* DARST – WILLIAMS – OWEN HOME
502 North 12th Street
NEW page * “The Beetison Home & Mansion” < link
has so much important historical information about
this early family, we have made a special page for it
NEW page * “Dennis Dean Limestone House & History” < link
has very important & susbstantial historical information
about Dennis’ contributions to the Ashland community,
dating from the 1860’s,
including his part in bringing the railroad to Ashland
this early family, we have made a special page for it
NEW page * “Earnest A. Wiggenhorn Home & Mansion”
has important historical information about the home
and the Wiggenhorn family. E. A. Wiggenhorn founded
Farmers & Merchants Bank in Ashland in 1883.
F & M Bank is the oldest continually operating family owned business in Ashland
We will be posting photos of the interior of the mansion, upon receiving
them from the Wiggenhorn-Fricke family collection & archives.
These include photos taken & the ‘story’ written and published in
a national magazine ‘of the day’, similar to House Beautiful.
link 
of RAILROADS in the growth of Ashland NE
scroll down the page to see ‘acknowledgement & thank you’ to
Photography by MJ for the collection of
over 100 photos of Historic Ashland
HOFFMAN BUILDING HAS BEEN RESTORED
” . . Bob and Christy Luebbe, owners of Linoma Software,
bought the Silver Street Square
building in downtown Ashland recently and are currently remodeling the second floor to house the business . . ”
excerpt from Suzi Nelson’s recent article
in the Ashland Gazette – LINK > ” Luebbe plans to restore . .”
The photo above is from THE FIRST 100 YEARS Ashland Nebraska: 1857 – 1957
The photo below, ‘looking west on Silver Street’, circa 1919 or later
The “X” in the upper left hand corner points out the Hoffman Building,
one of the sites where Ashland Public Schools classes met, following the fire &
destruction of their orginal building (built in 1866), until the current building was completed
SEE OUR NEW PAGE > HOFFMAN BUILDING – OSCAR HOFFMAN
A complete history is being compiled and MANY pictures for you to recall !
We have developed SEVERAL new pages !
check these new pages out and follow our progress !
The link > Ashland – Sheffer Cemeteriespage
contains information & the directories of both cemeteries.
The link > page ASHLAND GAZETTE history< < compiled by AHS
contains the storied history of the Ashland Gazette < < link to their website
the oldest continually operating business in Ashland, dating to 1879
LINK to > ASHLAND STIR UP DAYS < page
this NEW page describes our Annual Celebration,
provides pictures from the past & will have NEWS
and EVENTS scheduled for our 2014 STIR UP
2014 – 66 years of Stir-Up CELEBRATION and still COUNTING
see pictures of Stir-Up 2012, 2013 & 2014,
as well as past celebrations, on their own page !
Let us know how we are doing . . please !
Send us an e-mail ! . . . INFO@AshlandHistoricalSociety.info
IN THE BEGINNING
Settlement in the Ashland area is over 150 years old so it is fitting to pause and look backward.
NEBRASKA was part of the great Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
Maps discovered in Canada were drawn by Father Marquette in 1673, with both the Missouri and Platte Rivers accurately charted.
In the summer of 1804 the Corps of Discovery under Lewis and Clark came up the Missouri River from St. Louis, and detached a party to investigate the Platte River.
They went as far upstream as the present day Yutan area, and decided the Platte was not a navigable stream.
In 1819, Major Stephen H. Long was charged with exploring the sources of the Platte River and the Arkansas River Valley.
He reported Nebraska was ‘unfit for cultivation and uninhabitable’. J
Meanwhile, the great Western migrations to Oregon and California had begun.
The famed Oregon Trail was used by the first great emigrant train in 1841, beginning at the Missouri River and crossing Nebraska lands, with 900 persons and a thousand animals.
Various groups, lone families, and loners headed for the valley of the Platte at Fort Kearny,
“the only route of travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific within the temperate latitudes“.
There were several starting points
(Independence MO, Nebraska City and Plattsmouth NE)
which likely came together at the Saline Ford crossing on Salt River, where the only known rock-bottomed ford lay to furnish a safe crossing for freight caravans.
Most of the Saints on the Mormon Trail kept to the north of the Platte, but a monument along the Salt Creek in Ashland remembers a lad who died here, far from the goal of Utah.
After Nebraska became an organized Territory in 1854, Governor Cuming proclaimed that Cass County was to extend “to the limit of the ceded lands to the west”,
100 miles from the Missouri River.
In 1862, “the people” petitioned that Calhoun County’s name be changed to honor Governor Alvin Saunders.
Today’s boundaries reflect the arrangement made to give Saunders County citizens 12 sections of land that included the infant town of Ashland which was established as the Saunders County Seat.
A TOWN IS BORN
The first settlers who came to Ashland,
and, in fact, to Saunders County, were Joseph Stambaugh, his wife, and three small children.
They stayed one month because of the ‘unseasonable weather’: August of 1856.
In March of 1857, Reuben Warbritton and his wife, John Aughe and the Stambaugh family came, and the men staked out claims and built homes.
The Staumbaugh home, 17 X 17 feet, reportedly stood on the corner of 13th and Silver Streets.
The other two homes were 10 X 12 feet; all were made of sod; and all were located in Section 35.
In June, 1857, Harrison Ramsey settled nearby and was the father of the first born settler in the county.
The second child was the Stambaugh’s fourth, their son, John.
The Stambaughs had 10 children who survived the rigors of pioneering.
( photo below taken from a picture-postcard – mailed in 1909 )
(The building above was both the Selma Hotel and the Farmers and Merchants Bank)
(The building, below – with the cupola – is the National Bank – today the Lutton Law Offices) entrance to the ‘F & M Bank‘ was the corner entrance – Selma entrance at the ‘canopy’, shown above; entrance to the Selma Hotel, was at the ‘canopy’ – near where the carriage is parked, pictured below
Farmers & Merchants Bank has extensively remodeled the building over the years
The bank now occupies the entire first floor, the canopy has been removed The Selma Hotel has been closed – remodeled into several very fine apartments; the entrance to which is toward the west front of the building, maintaining the Selma name – simply carrying on the tradition – now called The Selma.
TRADE BEGINS
Business started in Ashland with the first frame building in 1863, housing Fuller and Moes’ general store.
Dennis Dean built a mill in 1864 at the site of the brush dam on the creek made by Archibald Wiggins.
Joseph Humes and Mr. Warbritton operated a sawmill; Henry Howe opened a wagon shop;
Henry Reasoner set up the first blacksmithy in the county; and Audrey Barnhill operated the first hotel,
coming to Ashland in 1864, being driven by Indians from his property near the present site of Wahoo.
Barnhill’s hotel is presumed the first west of Plattsmouth,
and was constructed from a two room house built partly with logs.
The house was purchased from Warbritton and was enlarged with a porch
The hotel stood at the foot of old-map Third Street, now determined
to be 13th Street south of Silver, after new plat & street maps were made.
Main Street lay on the lowland near the
Saline Ford Crossing and is now known as Birch Street.
It extended on both sides of the creek, and Haine and Valentine
put up the first stone building and opened a general store.
‘old Main street’ contained a toll bridge across Salt Creek.
ASHLAND, CENTER OF GOVERNMENT
Ashland became the first County Seat of Saunders County in 1866 and bore that status for seven years.
A court house was built in Ashland in 1870, with the deed of conveyance dated June 7, 1871.
Picture above is of the Courthouse and Grounds (between Silver and Adams Street and North 19th and North 20th Streets, in today’s description.)
Agitation began in 1873 to move the county seat to Wahoo but the proposition was fought every step ot the way.
Tales still circulate concerning the removal and relocation
of the county seat to Wahoo in December of 1873,
which occured after a four- way referendum on where the county seat should be, showed Ashland in second place !
The county records were taken to Wahoo in December of that year, allegedly by stealth in the middle of the night, and the changeover was achieved.
In November, 1878, the courthouse and grounds were sold to Dr. von Mansfelde.
As late as 1903, every precinct in Saunders County voted for bonds for a new courthouse (in Wahoo), except East and West Ashland.
The vote: West Ashland 71-38 against; East Ashland 59-20 against.
Nearly a century later, a Saunders County hospital issue passed
in spite of Ashland’s opposition to the Wahoo facility.
But bonds for a new judicial center and jail
received strong support from Ashland.
That facility was built and opened in 2009.
Although Ashland was reported in 1869 as “a small village with a few cottonwood shanties”,with the migration to Silver Street came more “stately mansions.”
In 1870 Hiram Paddock is said to have erected the first store there, a frame building made from lumber hauled by teams from Omaha.
The building boom continued with the Snell “block”
* * “now” refers to a caption from The First 100 Years Centennial Book in 1957
which was built in 1870 on the SW corner of 14th and Silver;
the bank “block” on the corner of 15th and Silver
(built by the Simingtons who introduced banking to Ashland in 1871);
the aforesaid courthouse; and a three story building with a photograph gallery
on the third floor, living quarters on the second floor, and a meat market on the ground floor.
James Thomas had a shop where he made wagons;
Theodore B. Wilson was the first lawyer in town
and in the county; Jacob A. Jury was a bookeeper and salesman;
David Dean started his lumber yard at the site of
Mead lumber Co. at 201 North 14th Street.
Thomas Bissell ran a road house.
Silas M. Nichols had “one of the principal . . furniture houses of the county,” and was undertaker as well.
This business was taken over by O. D. Harford in 1886 and run by Harford’s son-in-law, Kenneth Marcy,
assisted by his son-in-law, B. C. Perryman, later the full proprietor.
Don and Lois Fick now own and direct the Marcy Morturary of Ashland
and the Svoboda Funeral Home of Wahoo.
Masonic Lodge chambers occupied the second floor of the building in Ashland.
* * 2012 – the Pomegranate Lodge (Ashland) closed their lodge
They have merged with the Masonic Lodge in Ceresco
MANY NEW ITEMS Stories – Pictures – Links
are now posted on HISTORY – ASHLAND NE < LINK
other Historic Ashland Homes are shown on:
Historic Homes (multiple homes) <link
Dennis Dean Limestone House <link
Beetison Home & Mansion <link
We invite you to DISCOVER Historic Ashland NE !
click above ^ ^ for a link to their website
We invite you to share your stories, your family history, your photos, your proud heritage, that is embodied in your ASHLAND NE experiences !
Whether you are an Ashland pioneer family or a “newby” your stories are important to the fabric that makes up this beautiful community.
After all . . . we like to describe Ashland NE as
the GROWING, NURTURING and LOVING COMMUNITY
that has (2) nearby “suburbs“
Our Ashland NE Churches page provides information about the many places of worship in the Ashland NE area, as well as links to several of the area church websites
You may also want to visit the website of the Ashland-Greenwood Public Schools The link to their website is news.AGPS.org
COME GROW WITH US ! !
TOWERS OF HISTORY
One of the greatest proposals to bring attention ot Ashland’s historic past and present is still on the drawing board. Contributions by many have continued to keep this important project alive.
As other towns in Nebraska search for historic moments in their past to celebrate and spur on interest in their cause, Ashland sits on some of the most documented important history in the whole state.
The TOWERS OF HISTORY Memorial
will be erected where many pioneers crossed on the 1846 Oxbow Trail, where the Otoe and Missourian Indians lived in this area, where the Lewis and Clark Expedition journeyed up the Platte River in the pirogue boat, and where Nebraska’s First Astronaut; in 2007 & again in 2010, Clayton C. “Clay” Anderson was raised and graduated A-G High School in 1977.
Artist Gene Roncka, of Willow Point Gallery in Ashland, continues to redesign portions of the Memorial to cut costs as the country suffers from the economic downturn.
The approval of the city of Ashland, the NRD, the Department of Roads, the Governor, the Nebraska Travel and Tourism Department and grants from the Comunity Cultural Development Partnership and the Ashland Rotary Club; in addition to the very successful
TOWERS OF HISTORY
ornament sales and OPPD’s offer to contribute plus the many who have helped to support fundraisers dedicated to financing the TOWERS OF HISTORY Memorial proves the continuing interest in Ashland’s history.
A conceptual replica of the
TOWERS OF HISTORY
may be seen at
Willow Point Gallery
* 1431 Silver Street
* Downtown Historic Ashland NE
The Willow Point Gallery also displays the collections of Mr. Ronckas’s paintings, commemorative ornaments and the Archie Hightshoe wildlife collection.
Visit the Gene Roncka Gallery / Museum and experience what so many others have enjoyed.
Recognized by Nebraska Travel and Tourism and featured in several national magazines.
Click below to learn more about Artist Gene Roncka:
A link to gallery & for Gene’s bio & more info
click on the TOWERS OF HISTORY
photo of the gallery or the ornament, to learn more
HISTORIC TOURS of ASHLAND
Historic walking/driving tour maps of Ashland are available at Willow Point Gallery, the Ashland Gazette offices and St. Stephen’s Church.
The maps show 24 historic sites which are identified by signs in place from spring to fall.
BE SURE TO VISIT other merchants, galleries & historic sites, while you are here
The Gift Niche & Glacial Till Tasting Room & Gallery
1414 Silver Street – 1419 Silver Street
Enjoy a glass of wine & more art displays at Glacial Till
Cooper Studio & Gallery (winter & summer !) 1526 Silver Street
Ashland NE is the Hometown of Clayton C. “Clay” Anderson
Instant LINK: > > Route 6 – Historic U S 6< < our page
NEW ! ! Malerie’s ” Stay on Route 6” blogspot!
Malerie Yolen-Cohen, author of the “Stay On Route 6” blog visited Historic Ashland on Saturday the 11th of June 2011, while on her cross-country trip along US 6, which began May 20th, at the east coast origin of US 6 in Provincetown MA
(Follow Malerie’s blog by ‘clicking’ the blue link above)
She met with the ‘AHS welcoming party’
at Cheri O’s for lunch and was interviewed by
Suzi Nelson of the Ashland Gazette
See our Facebook page for more pics of Malerie’s visit
Route 6 is the longest continuous highway in the nation;running from Provincetown,on Cape Cod,MA to Long Beach / Lancaster CA; a distance of 3,652 miles
Learn more about Historic Route 6 across the nation:
click ^ on either logo ^ above
ASHLAND is one of the NE communities along Historic Route 6
click here > > for the printable MAP of Ashland
Ashland Stir Up Days
2018 will mark the 70th annual celebration of Stir Up Days in Ashland
CHECK the ASHLAND STIR UP DAYS page
The AHS – SFHPS is humbled and proud to provide
you with the newest AHS Quarterly Newsletter, via e-mail:
We are able to preserve funds for ongoing projects through the e-mailing
of our quarterly newsletter, thereby saving printing and mailing expense.
We invite you to join our ‘e-mail list’ of Members & Friends of the
AHS, to receive updates, meeting schedules, & Quarterly Newsletters
send your request to INFO@AshlandHistoricalSociety.info
Membership Information:
Ashland Historical Society
aka; Saline Ford Historical Preservation Society
(Renewal / Enrollment Annual Dues – due October 1st each year):
Patron $75 Family $35 Single $20
You may mail your Renewal or Enrollment dues to:
Marilyn (Kolb) Wright, Treasurer
Ashland Historical Society
1438 Silver Street Ashland NE 68003
Your dues will go toward supporting the Society’s objectives.
Dues are for the fiscal year of October through September each year.
Interested in becoming a Member of the AHS ? ?
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED ! !
Invitation to join the AHS < printable form & information
Interested in making a contribution to the AHS ? ?
ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY < is now available . . learn more
for you, your company, your estate, etc. to
contribute tax-exempt donations for the continuing
support of the Ashland Historical Society – SFHPS
Your support is greatly appreciated & certainly needed at this critical time,
as we have moved to our NEW museum; located in the historic Ashland (Carnegie) Public Library building
[constructed in 1911 * registered on the National Register of Historic Places]
THANK YOU for your thoughtful consideration.
Once again, Thank You for your generous & continuing support; be that support . . tireless hours of volunteering, financial & other contributions of historical articles, pictures and history of our families as we now share the “living history” of Ashland NE to Members and the world !
GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Ashland Chamber of Commerce and the Saline Ford Historical Preservation Society, in a published book entitled The First 150 Years * Ashland NE * 1857 – 2007, as well as photos from the families, friends, patrons, anonymous donors, “antique buffs”, the Saunders County Museum, & the NE State Historical Society; – from literally everywhere, as Members, Friends, website ‘surfers’ share new things with us daily !
We were able to glean information from The First 100 Years * 1857 – 1957, as well.
While that publication is out of print, the AHS maintains a digital copy
The AHS will be offering a CD of the The First 100 Years * 1857 – 1957 for sale very soon
As was written in the INTRODUCTION of The First 150 Years * Ashland NE * 1857 – 2007; “When Ashland celebrated its Centennial, men grew whiskers and women wore sun bonnets. They produced a history of the first 100 years that we treasure today.” “The photos from that book and from the LOOKING OVER OUR SHOULDERS series and ASHLAND’S MAIN STREET REMEMBERED documented Ashland as it was.”
“We are attempting to document Ashland as it is today.”
That INTRODUCTION went on to say;“We have produced a book for the first 150 years – a history of the people, by the people and for the people.”
“Those who wrote these stories remain undentified but you will hear your own voices in what they have written.” “We are given the opportunity to reflect upon the activities and accomplishments of our unique city through the history of the businesses, organizations, and activities of its people.”
” THIS IS ASHLAND ! THIS is who we are ! . . . “
The Ashland Historical Society and the Saline Ford Historical Preservation Society are pleased, proud and humbled to be able take the “story” of our city to the next level; by sharing and making it available to the entire WORLD, through the ‘World Wide Web’.
We offer this thought, definition and analysis of the word history:
The term ‘history’ is derived from the Greek word ‘historia’ which means ‘information’ or ‘an inquiry designed to elicit truth’.
It is just “man — his story” — the story of efforts to satisfy his craving for an orderly social life.
“ History is a connected account of the course of events of progress of ideas.”, Rapson
acknowledgement to www.articlesbase.com
