Crime Scene and Trauma Cleanup in Ashland, KS

Ashland is a small city and the county seat of Clark County in southwestern Kansas near the Oklahoma border, and it is the largest city in a county that had fewer than 2,000 residents in 2020.

Ashland was founded in 1884 and named after the city of Ashland, Kentucky; it was incorporated in 1886 and its first post office opened in 1885.

Ashland won the Clark County seat in 1885 over the rival town of Clark City, whose residents were paid to move their buildings to Ashland; Clark City was soon abandoned entirely.

The townsite stood along the old military road between Fort Dodge and Fort Supply in Indian Territory, where the Army had built the Bear Creek Redoubt and the Cimarron Redoubt in 1870 during the Comanche Campaign.

The 2020 census counted 783 people in Ashland, living in 357 households, down from a population peak of 1,493 in 1950.

Ranching is still Ashland's main industry today, with healthcare also a major employer in the community.

Near Ashland lies the Big Basin Prairie Preserve, a prairie preserve known for its giant sinkhole, the spring-fed St. Jacob's Well, and a herd of bison.

Ashland's students all attend one school, Ashland Junior/Senior High School in Ashland USD 220, whose teams are the Bluejays.

The town's historic First National Bank building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ashland has a humid subtropical climate, and its recorded temperature extremes range from 114 degrees Fahrenheit down to minus 20.