It is a rural settlement area on the Oak Ridges Moraine, situated on the headwaters of the Lynde Creek watershed and part of Ontario's protected Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt.

"[6] The original spelling—Ashbourne, after Ashbourne, Derbyshire in England—was changed in error due to the cancellation stamp used by the post office (est.

In 1869, Ashburn had a population between 100 and 250, with a stage coach to Uxbridge and Whitby, daily mail, an Orange Society (No.

[8] In the nineteenth century the local Agricultural Society regularly held cattle fairs in the village.

[12] The Ashburn School House (after 1967 a community centre) was built circa 1861 by William Pearson (1833–1897), a Scottish builder who constructed many fine stone houses in Whitby and Pickering; each wall was constructed in a different style to showcase Pearson's masonry skill.

Its surrounding area has a high aquifer vulnerability, and the western edge has a woodland and wetland designated as hydrologically sensitive.

[18] The Ashburn subwatershed (which extends as far north as Chalk Lake),[19] is home to the redside dace, a provincially designated endangered species threatened in the Lynde watershed by destroyed or degraded habitat.

[21] Statistics Canada offers a 2006 Cumulative Profile for Ashburn and region (including Myrtle the western section of neighbouring Brooklin), with a total population of 6,409 and 2,198 dwellings.

[25] In 2011, the Ashburn company received a grant of $3.1 million under Ontario's Rural Economic Development Program (RED), to expand their facilities on the Oak Ridges Moraine, and to support the creation of 80 new jobs.

[27] The hamlet is home to a number of sporting facilities: the Royal Ashburn Golf Club (est.

[31] Ashburn is easily accessible from Highway 407, which begins 17 kilometres south-west of the hamlet in the village of Brougham.

[32] In 1990, Via Rail ceased passenger service on the Havelock-Peterborough-Toronto line, which runs across the northern edge of Ashburn and stops in the neighbouring hamlet of Myrtle Station.

In recent years, there has been significant local, federal and provincial support for a plan to restore passenger service to this line.

[36] In 2001, Ashburn resident Jean Achmatowicz MacLeod was made a Member of the Order of Canada by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson.

[37] Long time local Ashburn resident Politician Gerry Emm served on Whitby Council for 41 years.