By HOLLY PRESTIDGE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
You only turn 150 once.
The town of Ashland is
celebrating a milestone birthday Saturday --
actually, the birthday was in February -- with a
big party involving 150 birthday cakes, the
all-county marching band, live music throughout
the day on Randolph-Macon College's campus, and
activities that trace the roots of this train
station and college town.
Longtime residents rattle off town history
like it's second nature. But for the rest of us,
here are a few things you may not have known
about The Center of the Universe.
The town's nickname was coined by Richard S.
Gillis Jr., a former Ashland mayor, Hanover
County supervisor and business leader who many
say helped foster Ashland's small-town values
outside the community. According to some, Gillis
was known to say, "It's a great day in the
center of the universe."
When the town was incorporated in 1858, it
was 1 square mile. Today, it's just more than 7
square miles.
Actress Katharine Hepburn had ties to
Ashland. Her father, Thomas Norval Hepburn, was
born in Hanover County and graduated from
Randolph-Macon College. Her grandfather, the
Rev. Sewell S. Hepburn, was known to attend St.
James the Less Episcopal Church, which used to
be on South Center Street.
There's a missing time capsule buried under
Ashland's Town Hall. The capsule was buried in
1983 after Ashland's 125th birthday celebration
and was intended to be opened this year. But no
one seems to know exactly where it's located.
This year, another time capsule is being
filled and will be opened in 50 years.
Suggestions for items to go into the capsule
will be considered through Dec. 31. This one
will be placed in the town vault, where there's
yet a third capsule that was sealed in 1976
during the town's July 4 celebration. That one
will be opened in 2076.
Randolph-Macon College moved to Ashland in
1868 from Mecklenburg County and occupied a
building known as the Slash Cottage, a health
resort built by the Richmond, Fredericksburg and
Potomac Railroad in 1845. The resort eventually
included a dance hall and picnic lawn, two
hotels, a bowling alley and shooting gallery,
and a racetrack. None of the original buildings
remain.
Contact Holly Prestidge at (804) 649-6945 or
hprestidge@timesdispatch.com.
