Ashland, Virginia is simply a fun, neighborly laid-back city with a small-town atmosphere and a pace of living that forces you to sit back and enjoy the sights, scenes, people and even names of the many businesses up and down the city’s main street. Center of the Universe
So what if Railroad Ave is separated by two tracks of rail owned by CSX Railroad and accommodating trains of so many other companies, including Amtrak.
So what if trains with hundreds of freight cars rumble through at all hours of the day and night, a sign that business is up and running, for sure, between factories and points of sale.
Ashland is a town that convinces you that yes, every once in a while, it is important to sit back and smell the roses.
Getting off Amtrak from Newark’ Penn Station to Ashland, you practically run face to face with a life size sculpture of one of the reasons why the town makes headlines. This is where The Meadow was located, the horse farm where the famed Secretariat was born and bred.
In tribute to the thoroughbred, still regarded as the most perfect racehorse of all times, there is a life size sculpture of the horse, with rider Ron Turcotte up in the saddle, directly next to the station platform, and in front of one of the gates to Randolph Macon College. The Canadian born jockey rode the Virginia-bred horse to victory in all three races of the Triple Crown in 1973, the first winner in a quarter of a century with a still unbeaten speed records in all three races.
On the other side of the tracks, behind the train station converted into a visitors center, is the Henry Clay Inn, its large inviting porch and flower and shrub-filled front yard filled with sparkling white lights that offer a welcome shine for an evening arrival. On the corner is the Iron Horse, a fantastic restaurant with a railroad inspired décor and friendly staff.
But walking through town, it’s the names of the various small shops that draw you inside. You can’t help but think if they’re that creative with their names, they must be creative with their merchandise as well.
It’s true. Take the Center of the Yarniverse for instance. The town wants to be known as the Center of the Universe, as a large painting on the exterior wall of one of its buildings will tell you. Yet shop owner Stacey Williamson wants shoppers to know that the Center of the Yarniverse is not only an important part of the town, but also a shop for everyone who wants to create with a needle or other hand or finger original handiworks.
This is a great shop filled with yards, needles, crafts, models, and everything else a knitter, crocheter, embroiderer or other skilled or unskilled crafter wants or needs. Stacey is happy to show you all the unique crafts, kits and wools the shop has to offer, as well as a variety of great little kits and fun gift ideas even for those who don’t have any skills with handiwork. She’ll also let you know the variety of shops in town, pointing in all directions to ensure you don’t miss anything.
Across the street and up a little way is the Sugar Fix Bakery, a name that almost forces you to go in and see what’s offered.
There again, it’s the friendly folks who run the bakery that are eager to take some time to chat, to tell you what makes them proud about their city, and what’s inside the colorful, attractive, and very deliciously looking pastries, cookies and more. Since Ashland is very definitely a railroad town, of course there are packages of cookies in the shapes of trains, locomotives, and station crossing signs. And they taste even better than they look.
Then there’s the Slipped Disc, a Grammy Award winning recording studio. The Sweet Frog is a yogurt shop and Tiny Tim’s Toys and Trains is well, just that, lots of toys and trains of all sizes, models, together with all the parts and pieces needed for model railroading.
Tiny Tim’s Toys and Trains also has a dynamic and enthusiastic salesperson named Sonja, who not only loves trains and knows all about them, but loves her work, which, she will gently remind you, is not work, it’s something she does because she loves it.
Sonja’s been on the job for ten years ever since the day she told her best friend who owned the business she would help out for one day. Between helping out customers looking for kits of trains, planes and helicopters or tee shirts or railroad hats as commemoratives of visiting a railroad town, Sonja is on her computer checking how late the Auto Train is and what time it’s expected to pass through Ashland. She knows precisely where everything is in the store, from attractive Christmas ornaments and model railroad accessories to miniature railroad magnets and stuffed toys.
Sonja was excited as I was leaving the store because a miles long freight train was rumbling through, and she could hasten outdoors to get a better look as it headed south. Not only that, but she also called me as I was a distance up the street when the freight continued to rumble through. “Look between the cars,” Sonja called out joyously. “You’ll see the Auto Train on the other side heading North. She’s three hours and five minutes late.”
She was right on both counts. And up and down Railroad Avenue, both sides, folks stopped what they were doing to watch the trains pass, two different cargoes in two different directions.
Continuing walking through the downtown area, I found the town hall festooned with flags, a Coffee, Tea and Books shop which was just that…..tables if you wanted to sit and enjoy coffee or tea, and a bookcase of books if you wanted to make a purchase. The friendly owners there are quick to point out the top shelves are new books for sale, the bottom shelf is used books for a dollar or so.
It was another statue, this of a man sitting on the park bench, which drew me to the town library. The man was reading a book and was identified as Richard “Dick” S. Gillis a Randolph Macon graduate of the 1930s, Army Captain during World War II who earned two battle stars and a unit citation, and a successful 30-year career man with the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. He was also executive vice president and publisher of Commonwealth magazine. Mr. Gilis was the town’s mayor from 1977 to 1990 and was the first to describe Ashland as the Center of the Universe.”
During his tenure as mayor from 1977 to 1990, Ashland was given the town train station by the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, was given a new post office by the federal government and saw water and sewer service extended to a north Ashland neighborhood. While he was mayor of the Town of Ashland, Mr. Gillis coined the phrase, “The Center of the Universe,” the name that still sticks. He was also largely responsible for the library coming to Ashland in the first place and though he died in 2001, his memory lives on at the library and throughout the town.
The library is another unique feature of a unique community. There are reams of information about everything going on in town. An entire section complete with plenty of literature on voting, the importance of it, and how to do it, local, state and interstate daily newspapers with comfortable chairs for reading, and even sheets of crossword puzzles daily to ensure sharp minds and daily challenges.
A friendly librarian is eager to respond to any questions with a broad knowledge of not only Ashland but Virginia history as well, and the adult section of the library has the latest bestsellers readily available.
But it’s the children’s library that reminds you you’re in Ashland which is a railroad town. Spread out the length of the room, at kid level, is a display table and all the houses, hotels, people, animals and other buildings so a youngster or group of youngsters can build their own village. It is Ashland, so instead of roads, there are also lots and lots of train pieces, so the youngsters can build their town around the railroad.
Previous Stories on my Travel to Ashland Virginia
My Lodging: The Henry Clay Inn
