Ashland gets its name from the Oregon ash trees that once grew in the area. In the early part of the twentieth century, the Ashland area was home to farms growing a variety of products especially peas,tomatoes, rhubarb, and fruit trees. Along East 14th A small business district emerged along East 14th. By the 1930s, greenhouses for growing flowers, many of the nurseries owned by Japanese American families, and poultry farms also sprang up in the area. The population in the area was sufficient for Ashland to have its own grammar school by 1923, though the students had to travel to Hayward Union High School on Foothill Boulevard in downtown Hayward for their secondary education. By the late 1930s, Ashland had an automobile racetrack located where Bayfair Mall is now (San Leandro annexed that land in the early 1950s) and its own fire department. Following World War II, the flower nurseries continued to thrive but soon housing developments began encroaching on the nurseries and small farms as building houses for area’s booming population became more profitable than growing flowers. Today, Ashland is a small community of modest homes and businesses. beginning in 1892, people could ride an electric street car from Oakland to Hayward, passing through Ashland’s orchards on their journey.

Constructing the Ashland Community Clubhouse, c. 1950

Courtesy of the Hayward Area Historical Society

Ashland Fire Department, c. 1948

Courtesy of the Hayward Area Historical Society

Brown’s Nursery on East 14th, 1945

Courtesy of the Hayward Area Historical Society

Interior of Eden Drygoods store, c. 1948

Courtesy of the Hayward Area Historical Society