Ashland is located in Central New Hampshire, very close to the geographical center of the state. It lies on the Southeastern edge of Grafton County and, as of the 2010, is home to 1,244 people. The town encompasses just 11.5 square miles, 11 of which is land and .5 of which is water. The area is home to the Scribner-Fellow State Forest and parts of several bodies of water, including Squam Lake, Squam River, Owl Brook, Little Squam Lake and Merrimack River.
The area was first chartered in 1751 by the Colonial governor Benning Wentworth and was considered a part of nearby town Holderness. Ten years later, it was renamed New Holderness. In 1763, the area was actually settled, however it wasn?t until 1868 that the town was broken off, incorporated and named Ashland. In its early years, the area was primarily agricultural; now, Ashland is known as a residential and resort-style community.
Ashland is home to many historic sites, including the Ashland Train Depot, the Pauline E. Glidden Toy Museum, the Whipple House Museum and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, all of which were established before 1900. Several notable people have called Ashland home, including Nobel Prize winner George Hoyt Whipple, U.S. Congressman James F. Briggs and founder of Bates College Oren B. Cheney.
The town is governed by an elected Board of Selectmen. Ashland has a full-time police department, a volunteer fire department and a volunteer emergency medical services department. Children in the area attend Ashland Elementary School for grades kindergarten through eighth and Plymouth Regional High School, located in the nearby town of Plymouth, for grades nine through 12. The nearest college is Plymouth State University, a small state school with just over 4,000 undergraduates.