Ashland is a Class-2 city in Boyd County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is located upon the southern bank of the Ohio River. The population was 21,684 at the 2010 census. Ashland is a part of the Huntington-Ashland-Ironton metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 287,702. New definitions from February 28, 2013 placed the population at 363,000. Ashland is the second-largest city within the MSA, after Huntington, West Virginia. Ashland serves as an important economic and medical center for northeast Kentucky and is part of the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Kentucky.

Ashland dates back to the migration of the Poage family from the Shenandoah Valley via the Cumberland Gap in 1786. They erected a homestead along the Ohio River and named it Poage's Landing. Also called Poage Settlement, the community that developed around it remained an extended-family affair until the mid-19th century.[3] In 1854, the city name was changed to Ashland, after Henry Clay's Lexington estate and to reflect the city's growing industrial base. The city's early industrial growth was a result of Ohio's pig iron industry and, particularly, the 1854 charter of the Kentucky Iron, Coal, and Manufacturing Company by the Kentucky General Assembly. The city was formally incorporated by the General Assembly two years later in 1856. Major industrial employers in the first half of the 20th Century included Armco, Ashland Oil and Refining Company, the C&O Railroad, Allied Chemical & Dye Company's Semet Solvay, and Mansbach Steel.

Ashland's central business district extends from 12th Street to 18th Street, and from Carter Avenue to Greenup Avenue. It includes many historically preserved and notable buildings, such as the Paramount Arts Center and the Ashland Bank Building, which is built to Manhattan height and style standards and serves as a reminder of what Ashland leaders hoped it would become.

A major steel producer formed from ARMCO Steel Company L.P, which was a limited partnership between Armco and Kawasaki in 1994. AK Steel eventually purchased Armco Steel Inc. At one time Armco employed over 4,000 people at its West Works, Foundry, and Coke Plant. AK Steel currently employs under 1,000 after the closing of the Foundry and Coke Plant and the downsizing of its West Works.

The fourth largest hospital in the state of Kentucky, the 465-bed not-for-profit institution is the city's largest employer at over 4,000 employees. It offers numerous inpatient and outpatient services for the region.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashland,_Kentucky