Ashland, Nebraska

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Ashland is a city in Saunders County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 2,262 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Ashland is located at the site of a low-water limestone ledge along the bottom of Salt Creek, an otherwise mud-bottomed stream that was a formidable obstacle for wagon trains on the great westward migrations of the late 1840s and 1850s. The Oxbow Trail, a variant route of the Oregon Trail, ran from Nebraska City (on the Missouri River) to Fort Kearny (on the Platte River), where it joined the main route of the Oregon Trail. The limestone bottom of Salt Creek at Ashland made it an excellent fording site. A trading post, Saline Ford, developed at the ford. A village, Flora City, was platted on the hills overlooking the ford. These twin towns later incorporated as Ashland.

Today, Ashland benefits by its proximity to Interstate 80 and the cities of Omaha and Lincoln. While in some respects Ashland is becoming a "bedroom community" of those much larger cities, it retains a rural character. That coherence as a community, and a 30-minute drive to either of the state's economic hubs, has led to a building boom in the late 1990s and the 2000s.

Several tourist attractions are near Ashland, all along I-80: Eugene T. Mahoney State Park, the Strategic Air and Space Museum, and the Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari (owned and operated by the Henry Doorly Zoo).

Ashland is the home town of Clayton Anderson, an astronaut. [1]

[edit] Geography

Ashland is located at 41°2′26″N, 96°22′21″W (41.040548, -96.372389)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.7 km² (1.1 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,262 people, 877 households, and 591 families residing in the city. The population density was 823.9/km² (2,130.2/mi²). There were 930 housing units at an average density of 338.8/km² (875.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.76% White, 0.13% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.18% from other races, and 0.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.64% of the population.

There were 877 households out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 88.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $40,441, and the median income for a family was $47,428. Males had a median income of $32,339 versus $21,328 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,072. About 9.3% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.6% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.