ASHLAND

city, seat (1860) of Ashland county, extreme northern Wisconsin, U.S. It is a port on Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior. A Jesuit mission was established there in 1665, but not until 1854 did Asaph Whittlesey settle the site, which he named for Henry Clay's Kentucky estate. In 1877 Ashland became the terminus of the first railroad of northern Wisconsin and developed with iron-mining and lumbering enterprises. Coal, iron ore, and black granite are shipped from Ashland, and pulpwood from Canada is floated across the lake and transported by rail to mills at Wisconsin Rapids. Ashland is the seat of Northland College (1892) and gateway to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Inc. 1887. Pop. (1990) 8,695. city, Boyd county, northeastern Kentucky, U.S. It lies along the Ohio River just below the mouth of the Big Sandy River. The city of Ashland forms a tristate industrial complex with Ironton, Ohio, and Huntington, W.Va. Settled in 1815 as Poage's Settlement, it was renamed (1854) in honour of Henry Clay's home in Lexington, Ky. Ashland's proximity to coal and timber regions and to iron-ore deposits (which are no longer mined) contributed to its growth as the state's major iron and steel centre (the continuous-sheetmill process was developed there). Ashland Community College (1937) is a branch of the University of Kentucky. Inc. town, 1856; city, 1876. Pop. (1992 est.) city, 24,068; Huntington-Ashland MSA, 292,220. city, Jackson county, southwestern Oregon, U.S. It lies along Bear Creek, in the southern reaches of the Rogue River valley, at the base of the Siskiyou Mountains, just southeast of Medford. Settled in 1852 (during a gold rush) and laid out in 1860, it was named for Ashland county, Ohio, and was known as Ashland Mills for its sawmills and gristmills. It was located on the Siskiyou Toll Road (linking Sacramento, Calif., and Portland, Ore.) and, after 1884, on the Oregon and California (now Southern Pacific) Railroad and developed as a lumber town. Ashland adjoins Rogue River National Forest, and tourism is a major source of income. The city is the home of Southern Oregon State College (1926). Inc. 1874. Pop. (1992 est.) 17,003.