516 Amherstia was the 8th asteroid discovered by Raymond Smith Dugan, and was named after Amherst College, his alma mater.

In 1989, the asteroid was observed from the Collurania-Teramo Observatory, allowing a light curve to be produced that showed an estimated rotation period of 7.49 hours and a brightness variation of 0.25 ± 0.01 in magnitude.

[6] On January 14, 2002, Amherstia was observed to occult the seventh-magnitude star SAO 60107 from ten sites in Florida.

The measured timing chords were used to estimate a cross-section diameter of 41.9±3.3 km with a generally circular profile.

[3] The near infrared spectra of Amherstia suggests a surface consisting of a single mafic silicate with iron–nickel alloy.