Editing Ashland, New Hampshire (section)

==History==

Ashland was once the southwestern corner of [[Holderness, New Hampshire|Holderness]], chartered in 1751 by [[New England Colonies|colonial]] Governor [[Benning Wentworth]]. But hostilities during the [[French and Indian War]] delayed settlement, and in 1761, it was regranted as "New Holderness" (although "New" would be dropped in 1816). Settled in 1763, the town was predominantly [[agricultural]] except for Holderness Village on the [[Squam River]], with falls that drop about {{convert|112|ft|m}} before meeting the [[Pemigewasset River]]. The falls provided [[water power]] for mills, and in 1770–1771, a [[sawmill]] and [[gristmill]] were built. The Squam Lake Woolen Mill was established in 1840. Goods manufactured at local factories included [[hosiery]], [[glove]]s, sporting equipment, wood products and [[paper]].<ref name=Coolidge>{{Cite book| last = Coolidge| first = Austin J.| author2=John B. Mansfield| title = A History and Description of New England| year = 1859| location = Boston | pages = 529–530| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OcoMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA529}}</ref>

The Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad<ref name="1875Ash">[http://gedcomindex.com/Reference/New_Hampshire_1875/057.html Article in ''Statistics and Gazetteer of New-Hampshire'' (1875)]</ref> entered in 1849, carrying [[freight]] but also tourists bound for hotels on the [[Squam Lake]]s, to which they traveled by [[Steamboat|steamer]] up the Squam River. The interests of the industrialized settlement increasingly diverged from those of the farming community, however, and in 1868 Holderness Village was set off as Ashland, named for [[Ashland (Henry Clay estate)|Ashland]], the [[Kentucky]] estate of [[Henry Clay]]. The last [[textile]] mill, the L.W. Packard Company, would close in 2002, and Ashland is today a residential and resort community.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ashland.nh.gov:8080/ashland/about-ashland/history-of-ashland/ |title=History of Ashland, New Hampshire |access-date=April 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527205306/http://www.ashland.nh.gov:8080/ashland/about-ashland/history-of-ashland |archive-date=May 27, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="140px">
Image:Squam Lake House, Ashland, NH.jpg|Downtown {{circa|1912}}
Image:Town Hall, Episcopal Church & Parish House, Ashland, NH.jpg|View of Town Hall {{circa|1910}}
Image:Mill Dam, Ashland, NH.jpg|[[Ashland Gristmill and Dam|Mill dam]] {{circa|1910}}
Image:Mills, Ashland, NH.jpg|View of the mills {{circa|1908}}
</gallery>