History · New Ashford

New Ashford’s history is
mostly unwritten

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The story

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New Ashford was first settled in 1762 and was officially incorporated on November 4, 1835. It was named for Ashford, Connecticut, where the founding citizens came from. The town has mostly been a rural farming community, with few mills ever set up in the town. Beginning in 1916, and for a few years after that, New Ashford had the distinction of casting the first vote in United States Presidential Elections (as Dixville Notch, New Hampshire does today). Following the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment the New Ashford poll was where Ms. Phoebe Jordan became the first woman to vote in a national election on November 2, 1920. The old wooden ballot box used on this historic occasion still sits in town hall, and is still in use today.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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New Ashford, decade by decade

Before
2000
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Then & now

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Stories next door

nearby towns’ history

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New Ashford

Massachusetts · MA · Berkshire County
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