Ashland

Ashland, 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, West Virginia.

Settled in 1815 as Poage’s Settlement, it was renamed (1854) in honour of Henry Clay’s home in Lexington, Kentucky. 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-sheet–mill process was developed there in 1934). The city is home to Ashland Community College (1938) and Ashland Technical College, both of which are members of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. Greenbo Lake State Resort Park is 18 miles (29 km) west. Inc. town, 1856; city, 1876. Pop. (2000) 21,981; Huntington-Ashland Metro Area, 288,643; (2010) 21,684; Huntington-Ashland Metro Area, 287,702.