Ashford is graced with natural beauty, with approximately 85% of the town as open space. The town is home to many lakes, parks, and camps, including the largest Boy Scout camp in Connecticut, June Norcross Webster Scout Reservation and Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a community dedicated to providing "a different kind of healing" to seriously ill children and their families throughout the Northeast. Ashford was rated at #12 for towns with a population of 3,500 – 6,500 in the March 2010 issue of Connecticut Magazine.
Size & Population
Ashford has a total area of 39.5 square miles and is home to about 4,400 people.
Quick Facts
- County: Windham
- Incorporated in 1714
Education
School District (Pre-K – 8th grade ): Ashford School
Ashford School
440 Westford Road • Ashford, CT • 06278
Ashford School Website.
School District (Grades 9-12): Regional School District #19
E.O. Smith High School (Grades 9 – 12th)
1235 Storrs Rd, Mansfield, CT
Main Office: (860) 487-0877
E.O. Smith Website.
Windham Regional Technical School , Windham
210 Birch St, Willimantic, CT
Main Office: (860) 456-3879
Windham Regional Technical School Website.
Notable Residents of Ashford
· Desireé Bassett (1992-), child guitar prodigy and recording artist.
· Walter Eli Clark (1869–1950), journalist, last Governor of the District of Alaska and the first Governor of the Alaska Territory was born in Ashford.
· Clay Dreslough (1970-) Game designer and creator of the Baseball Mogul series of products.
· Galusha A. Grow (1822–1907) Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1861 to 1863, was born in Ashford.
· Elias Keyes, (1758–1844), born in Ashford, United States Congressman from Vermont.
· Thomas Knowlton (1740–1776) military officer in the American Revolution, whom led Knowlton's Rangers, America's first Army intelligence unit. He grew up in Ashford.
· Nathaniel Lyon (1818–1861), born in Ashford, the first Union general to be killed in the American Civil War, grew up on a farm in Ashford.
· Paul Newman (1925–2008), award winning actor, film director and philanthropist, was a seasonal resident of Ashford from the opening of the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in 1988.
· Eliphalet Nott (1773–1866), native of Ashford, president of Union College, and from 1829 to 1845 simultaneously was president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was also the inventor of the first stove for anthracite coal.
· Valerie Wilson Wesley (born 1947), mystery writer.
Helpful Links:
>> Official Website, Town of Ashford, CT
>>Ashford School
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