HISTORIC: The town of Ashley was platted and incorporated on July 18, 1892 by the Wabash Railroad. It was named after Ossian W. Ashley, the President of the Wabash Railroad. In the early years the town housed many railroad yards. The Indiana Improvement Company bought land and established the division of the Wabash Railroad that runs along the northern boundary of DeKalb County. The new railroad and the technology that accompanied it drew a large influx of people to the area.

CITY AMENITIES: The entire Town is serviced by the DeKalb Central School District. Country Meadows Elementary is located 1.75 miles south of Ashley. The older students attend DeKalb High School and DeKalb Middle School. The town is fortunate to have a satellite Ivy Tech Community College site located in the Ashley Community Center, which services students from the four surrounding counties. The community center also houses a Christian day care/preschool program along with exercise, cardio, and weight training programs. The gym use is facilitated by the Town of Ashley.

Ashley is home to three parks. Memorial park consumes an entire block within the center of town. This is where the smiley face water tower is located. Sunset Park is a 12 acre park located in the southwest corner of town. The park has two, lighted ball diamonds, tennis court, two basketball courts, three pavilions, a pond, and half mile walking trail. John Carpenter Field is a ball diamond with playground equipment located on the north part of town. The main community event is the Ashley-Hudson Festival, which is held annually on the first Saturday of August. This event is facilitated by the Chamber and includes day long events in both communities.

GOVERNMENT and INDUSTRY: Ashley is located in far northeastern Indiana on the boarders of Steuben and DeKalb Counties. The northern 1/3 is located in Steuben and the southern 2/3 is located in DeKalb. The center line and county line is Indiana State Road 4 (State Street). The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2003 data shows the population to be 997.

A three-member town council meets on the second Monday of every month. Ashley has a town superintendent who is the administrative facilitator over all the departments, zoning administrator, and town planner. The Ashley Police Department consists of four full time certified officers and three reserve officers. The Fire Department consists of 22 personnel that are all volunteers. The Fire Department also operates an emergency response team consisting of certified emergency medical technicians, first responders, certified “Jaws of Life” technicians, and hazmat technicians.

The Town of Ashley provides water for residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Ashley is where the “Smiley Face” water tower is located and has become to be known as the town of the “Smiley Face”. The wastewater plant was rebuilt in 2006 and has a capacity of 400,000 gallon per day. All of the utilities have generator back-up power sources.

The Ashley Industrial base includes TI Automotive, Ashley Industrial Molding, Bostwick-Braun, Trin, and others.

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