Ashford, AL news and local guide

Wanting to incorporate their small town, then called Pine-Woods, a group of men went before Probate Judge Dan Gordon at Abbeville on May 11, 1891. Only 47 of the town's 300 to 400 residents voted in the election on June 15, all in favor, and on June 22, 1891, the judge declared the town, now called Ashford, incorporated. Two stories explain the name: the more popular one says Captain John T. Davis, a large landowner who deeded lots to the railroad, named it for his wife's family, the Ashfords of Columbus, Georgia; the other says travelers crossed a creek at a ford by a large ash tree, "at the Ash Ford." A fire in 1915 destroyed the town, and the depot was the only building to survive. It closed in 1978, and after years of preservation efforts and grants, a renovation was celebrated on November 17, 2005. On October 10, 2018, the western eyewall of Hurricane Michael passed over Ashford, leaving the whole town without power. Sources The Historical Marker Database: Incorporation of Ashford / Ashford – a Unique Name (Alabama Tourism Department and the Town of Ashford) Wikipedia: Ashford, Alabama