BlockAshley, Illinois
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Ashley Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62808. The Survey maps it on the Ashley quadrangle. 462 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 554 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresAshley fell from 536 to 462 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 536 | |
| 2020 | 462 | -74 (-14%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 9 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1943 USGS Ashley quadrangle1:62500
- 1946 USGS Ashley quadrangle1:62500
- 1958 USGS Belleville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1962 USGS Belleville quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Ashley quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Pinckneyville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
1,167 words on this townshipHistory of Washington County, Illinois, published 1879 names this settlement in its chapter on Ashley Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The first goods were sold in Ashley by Truman Gilbert, in 1854. He was followed by E. Mansfield, who opened a general store in the spring of 1855. Later in the same year T. H. Hobbs & Co. opened a general store; and some time during the same year Elias Gilbert opened a general stock oi goods.
Passage source: History of Washington County, Illinois, published 1879.
In the year 1854, P. M. and E. McNail built the first mill in the town of Ashley. It was at first only a saw mill, but in 1855 a small grist-mill was attached, and later they erected a regular flouring-mill of two run of burrs. They also attached a woolen card-mill. These mills were afterwards sold out and removed to Pinkneyville, this state.
Passage source: History of Washington County, Illinois, published 1879.
First, the Ashley Gazette , by Hosmer & Pace, established in 1857 ; next, the Experiment , by Robert Fleming; the next, the Ashley Herald , by David Benton ; and then came the present Ashley Gazette , by J. W. O'Bryant See 'History of the Press in another chapter.
Passage source: History of Washington County, Illinois, published 1879.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Ashley Township - it names this place 3 more 3 times.
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Ashley: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J.H.Forester Shale Drill | Clay | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
15 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ashley in 15 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 9 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ashley | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees, as well as numerous tree limbs around town. |
| March 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ashley | - | Thunderstorm winds caused minor roof and siding damage to several homes. Also, several power poles and trees were blown down. |
| February 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ashley | - | Thunderstorm winds blew in two large barn doors on a farm 5 miles west of Ashley. Further north the winds blew down several power lines in the Hoyleton area. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ashley | - | Numerous large tree limbs were blown down east of Ashley. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Ashley | - | Storm spotters reported 3/4 inch hail near Ashley. |
| October 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ashley | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts damaged the siding on a house in Ashley. |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ashley | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts downed power lines in Ashley. |
| June 2010 | Hail | Ashley | - | no account filed |
| March 2009 | Hail | Ashley | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Ashley | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Ashley | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Ashley | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Hail | Ashley | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Ashley | - | no account filed |
| January 1999 | Hail | Ashley | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Ashley | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q575621 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 403676. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.