Oldest Town in America

The NY Times sent reporter Peter T. Kilborn to study Ashley, ND (population 882) because it had one of the highest median ages (64.0 years) compared to the national average (35.3) and the highest percentage of people 85 years and older (6.6%). The NYT was shocked that a small town in rural ND would have these stats rather than a town in FL or AZ. They came to town hoping to find that this German-Russian immigrant town had some special diet that extended the life span of its residents.

Kilborn was deeply troubled when he went to the local café on his first morning in town and found virtually everyone eating biscuits and gravy, pancakes and sausages. I’m guessing that there was a lot more grease being used in Ashley than what he had seen in NYC. He wrote, “Gerontologists say high-fat diets shorten lives, but there is little evidence here that fat, salt, sweets or cholesterol struck down many of these people here before 80.”

The reporter had a great time, ended up eating like the locals by the end of the week and went back to NYC understanding that Ashley’s extremely high median age was due to out-migration of its young people and not because of some New Age diet. His new theory was summed up in the headline for his story, “North Dakota Town’s Payoff For Hard Lives Is Long Life.”

Knowing the aging issue before I went, I traveled there with some trepidation. I wasn’t sure what I would find but was pleasantly surprised with the attitude of the residents there and their open minded approach to many of the items that I discussed.

The community has tried to attract new jobs, one of which is Noridian, a Blue Cross/Blue Shield outsourcing operation that verifies Medicare claims for 11 states.

I really liked Lake Hoskins just to the west of town, but was told that Dry Lake (it was dry until the floods of 1997) is actually a better fishing lake. There are lots of northerns, walleyes and perch. This area has a great potential with the fastest growing spectator sport in the USA, bird watching. The lakes are a key asset for bird watching.

Housing is a concern for towns like Ashley. There have only been 5 built in town in the past five years. Existing houses are VERY cheap. I went by one house (see picture below) that sold for $5,000. These houses are being purchased by hunters and fishermen who are using them during the spring and fall. The old flour mill (see picture below), which has 16” thick wooden floors can be bought from the county for $1. It was built in 1910 and would make a great retail/apartment complex.

I asked Lynn Anderson who had moved here five years ago from Southern UT about the challenges of living in Ashley. Her husband is the local dentist and they have six children, aged 13 to 23. Lynn told me, “We like the lifestyle. The town we moved from was growing too quickly and had lots of problems with overcrowding in the schools. The hardest thing for us is to fit in socially with such an old population. But, we’ve made friends with people from neighboring towns and are very comfortable living here in Ashley.”

Ashley has developed a strategic plan to improve their community. The Americorps was in town with nine young people helping to spruce up the community and the town is doing their first ever rodeo this year. Ashley is working to do everything that it can to survive and prosper as a community.