The Society of Ashland's Preservation

Under the direction of Elizabeth Pastor, the Society of Ashland's Preservation was started on March 5, 1973. This group was concerned about the trees being cut down in the city's tree lawns. Pastor and the Society were afraid Center Street would soon look like Claremont Avenue. The organization hoped to stop the City of Ashland from cutting down all of the trees and what they did cut down, would be replaced so that the canopied streets would remain.
Elizabeth Pastor, a musician and faculty member at Ashland University then College, worked in the former F.E. Myers Music Building. The building was razed in 1975 and S.A.P. was incorporated by the State of Ohio on July 3, 1976, just as the fight to save the old jail at 2nd and Cottage Streets. Their mission was simple, to try to preserve the historic natural and man-made sites and structures in and around Ashland, Ohio. After the jail was torn down, the Society for Ashland's Preservation closed it's doors in 1979.
The records of the organization are now housed in the Ashland University Archives. For more information about the Society of Ashland's Preservation go to http://archives.ashland.edu/
Thank you to Hal Morris, George McCool, Andrew Gregersen, Tom Lobb, Fred Reeder, Elizabeth Pastor, Mrs. George (Ann) Franklin, and Mrs. Harold (Elizabeth) Weller who all made their attempt to preserve Ashland's historic landmarks. Although many of the trees were cut down and the old jail was destroyed, it gives me hope that someone after me will continue to fight to preserve Ashland's historic homes.