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==Points of interest== ===Ashland Farmers Market=== This local farmers market has been operating on Saturdays 9am–1pm June–October each year since 2012. Around two dozen vendors sell fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, bread, deserts, local wines, and crafts along with ready to eat food and coffee. There is also a rotating menu of live music and children's activities. ===Ashland Day=== Ashland Day is typically held on the third Saturday in September, each year. The festivities occur near the center of town at Stone Park from morning until late afternoon, and include a number of booths and various carnival-like rides. Many of the school system's athletic clubs and organizations use the day as an annual fundraising event, but it serves primarily as a day for residents to enjoy numerous activities and foods. Traditionally, there are fireworks atop the dam at Hopkinton State Park (the dam is in Ashland), but budget cuts have canceled several recent displays. Ashland Day has only been canceled once, due to inclement weather, in 2004. The 25th anniversary of the event was held in 2010. For the first time in several years, fireworks were launched from atop the dam at Hopkinton State Park.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ashlandmass.com/ashland/boards-and-committees/ashland-day-committee |title=Ashland Day Committee - Ashland, Massachusetts |access-date=August 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110530074012/http://www.ashlandmass.com/ashland/boards-and-committees/ashland-day-committee |archive-date=May 30, 2011 }}</ref> ===Stone's Public House=== [[File:Stone's Public House, Ashland, Massachusetts.jpeg|thumb|Stone's Public House, {{circa|2008}}]] Built in 1832 by Captain John Stone to capitalize on the new [[Boston and Worcester Railroad]], The Railroad House, later renamed John Stone's Inn, and now known as Stone's Public House, is located in the center of Ashland.<ref name="ashlandhistsociety.com">{{cite web|url=http://ashlandhistsociety.com/Pages/TheTrain.aspx|title=The Train – Ashland Historical Society|website=ashlandhistsociety.com|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=January 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110220417/http://www.ashlandhistsociety.com/Pages/TheTrain.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Stone's is reportedly the site of multiple hauntings. According to legend, the Inn was the site of a murder. Captain Stone is said to have killed a New York salesman named Mike McPherson accidentally after hitting him over the head with a pistol when he suspected McPherson of cheating at poker.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ghostvillage.com/resources/2005/resources_01232005.shtml|title=The Mysterious Haunting of Stone's Public House by David Retalic|website=Ghostvillage.com|access-date=February 1, 2022|archive-date=August 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802112527/https://www.ghostvillage.com/resources/2005/resources_01232005.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> It is said that Stone and three friends with whom he had been playing swore to keep the event secret and buried the salesman's body in the Inn's basement. The legend contends that the ghosts of the salesman and the three other players involved all roam the inn. No body has ever been found.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ghostvillage.com/legends/2002/legends8_12142002.shtml|title=Captain John Stone's Haunted Inn|website=Ghostvillage.com|access-date=February 1, 2022|archive-date=January 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122215843/http://www.ghostvillage.com/legends/2002/legends8_12142002.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> It is rumored that a ten-year-old girl, Mary J. Smith, was struck by a train while playing on the railroad tracks just outside the inn, on June 11, 1862. Onlookers rushed her inside the inn, where she would later succumb to her wounds. A number of employees, patrons, and passersby have reported seeing the apparition of a young girl in a dress, with most reports detailing her looking out various windows that overlook the rear of the building.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hauntspot.com/haunt/usa/massachusetts/stones-public-house.shtml|title=Contact Support|website=Hauntspot.com|access-date=April 7, 2018}}</ref> The inn was purchased from Herve Beaudoin in 1976 by Leonard "Cappy" Fournier and renovated. During renovations, a hidden chamber was discovered in the basement, and it is speculated that this was used to house runaway slaves who made their way to freedom in the North along the [[Underground Railroad]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x77787233/Ghost-hunter-recounts-eerie-history-of-Stones-Public-House-in-Ashland|title=Ghost hunter recounts eerie history of Stone's Public House in Ashland|author=Kendall Hatch|website=Metrowestdailynews.com|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=June 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613201557/http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x77787233/Ghost-hunter-recounts-eerie-history-of-Stones-Public-House-in-Ashland|url-status=live}}</ref> One notable guest of the hotel, [[Daniel Webster]], gave a speech from the balcony on the day the first train arrived in 1834. Joining him for the inaugural train were Governor [[John Davis (Massachusetts governor)|John Davis]] and former Governor [[Levi Lincoln Jr.]]<ref name="ashlandhistsociety.com"/> ===Marathon history=== Ashland was the original start line for the [[Boston Marathon]] from 1897 to 1923. As traditional marathon distances grew, the start line needed to be pushed back to Hopkinton in 1924. There is a small park on Pleasant Street in Ashland to remember this history, featuring a sign that reads "It all started here". <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ashlandhistsociety.com/Pages/the-boston-marathon/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=April 30, 2022 |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516043958/http://www.ashlandhistsociety.com/Pages/the-boston-marathon/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://patch.com/massachusetts/across-ma/best-places-watch-2021-boston-marathon-ashland |title=Archived copy |access-date=April 30, 2022 |archive-date=April 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220430043809/https://patch.com/massachusetts/across-ma/best-places-watch-2021-boston-marathon-ashland |url-status=live }}</ref> ===Open space=== [[File:Ashland State Park beach P1090962.jpg|thumb|right|Beach at [[Ashland State Park]]]] [[Ashland State Park]], Ashland Town Forest, [[Hopkinton State Park]], and Warren Woods are each partially or completely located within town lines. Both state parks include a lake with hiking, fishing, biking and swimming. Hopkinton State Park also has boat rentals and horseback riding trails.<ref name=parks>{{cite web|url=http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/ashl.htm|title=Ashland State Park|website=Mass.gov|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=May 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513160043/http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/ashl.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Ashland State Park is {{convert|470|acre|ha}} including a {{convert|157|acre|ha|adj=on}} reservoir. A {{convert|3+1/2|mi|km|adj=on}} hiking loop around it passes a boat launch, beach, dam and spillway. The latter two elements are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] as [[Ashland Dam and Spillway]]. Ashland Town Forest is {{convert|550|acre|ha}} with hiking trails around rock outcroppings, small caves, and the rumored ending of some women who escaped the [[Salem witch trials]].<ref>[http://www.ashlandtownforest.org/index.html Ashland Town Forest] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816003311/http://www.ashlandtownforest.org/index.html |date=August 16, 2013 }}</ref> The town also owns over {{convert|100|acre|ha}} of land, known as Warren Woods, on the south side of town with hiking trails across land once owned by inventor [[Henry E. Warren]]. ===Nyanza=== US Color and Chemical Company, later named New England Aniline Works, Inc., and finally The Nyanza Color and Chemical Company, had a dye-manufacturing plant in Ashland. The plant opened in 1917 when [[American entry into World War I]] cut off the supply of dyes from Germany, then the world's principal source. In 1971, the factory was identified as a hazard when pollution was discovered in the nearby [[Sudbury River]]. The site was placed on the [[Superfund]] National Priority List in 1982 when [[heavy metals]] and [[organochloride]]s were discovered in the soil and water near the site. It was also deemed probable that particles of [[Mercury(II) sulfate|mercuric sulfate]] were blown into the air. In 1998, Trustees settled NRD claims with the responsible parties at the Nyanza Chemical Waste Dump Superfund Site for $3 million. $230,769 of the settlement is for groundwater resources.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mass.gov/service-details/natural-resource-damages-program-groundwater-settlements-massdep|title=Natural Resource Damages Program Groundwater Settlements - MassDEP|website=Mass.gov|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408002937/https://www.mass.gov/service-details/natural-resource-damages-program-groundwater-settlements-massdep|url-status=live}}</ref> Cleaning up the contaminated site cost residents $55 million, and is still not complete as of 2013. The estates of the Nyanza executives were charged for the cleanup. In 2006, the Massachusetts State Department of Public Health released a study that found that people who grew up in Ashland between the late 1960s and early 1980s and swam in the waters near Nyanza had a 200-300% higher incidence of cancer than those who were not exposed to the chemicals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colorantshistory.org/Nyanza.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070316183655/http://www.colorantshistory.org/Nyanza.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 16, 2007|title=Nyanza Color & Chemical Company Ashland, Massachusetts|website=Colorantshistory.org|access-date=April 7, 2018}}</ref> In 2011, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup's Natural Resource Damages (NRD) program settled with the slowly-going-bankrupt Nyanza for $3 million, which with interest has grown to almost $4 million. The Nyanza case had previously been at the NRD program of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. In 2016, proposed housing near Nyanza site raised alarm in Ashland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/04/01/proposed-housing-near-nyanza-site-raises-alarm-ashland/6sfqB9Zr1e4DPHT4MhSchL/story.html|title=Proposed housing near Nyanza site raises alarm in Ashland - The Boston Globe|website=BostonGlobe.com|access-date=March 21, 2018|archive-date=March 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322020148/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/04/01/proposed-housing-near-nyanza-site-raises-alarm-ashland/6sfqB9Zr1e4DPHT4MhSchL/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, the EPA proposed a remedy to cleanup groundwater near the site, the final operable unit (phase) of the site cleanup.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-proposes-groundwater-cleanup-plan-nyanza-waste-dump-superfund-site-ashland|title=EPA Proposes Groundwater Cleanup Plan for the Nyanza Waste Dump Superfund Site in Ashland, Massachusetts|date=January 9, 2020|website=Epa.gov}}</ref> ===Sri Lakshmi Temple=== Opened September 6, 1986, [[Sri Lakshmi Temple, Ashland, Massachusetts|Sri Lakshmi Temple]] is a large regional [[Hindu temple]] located on Waverly Street and is the largest such temple in New England. [[Sri Lakshmi Temple, Ashland, Massachusetts|Sri Lakshmi temple]] hosts several Hindu functions throughout the year. First housed in a Knights of Columbus Hall in [[Melrose, Massachusetts|Melrose]] in 1978 and later in the [[Needham, Massachusetts|Needham]] Village Club, the congregation purchased about {{convert|12|acre|m2}} of land from Ashland in 1981.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.srilakshmi.org/Contents/Devotees.aspx |title=Sri Lakshmi Temple - Ashland MA |access-date=August 19, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814203422/http://www.srilakshmi.org/Contents/Devotees.aspx |archive-date=August 14, 2010 }}</ref>
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