Ashland is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community[6] in Alameda County, California, United States.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2), all of it land and sits at an elevation of 43 feet above sea level.

By 1892 14.3 miles of track ran along what was then known as County Road, today's East 14th Street/Mission Boulevard between Hayward and Oakland.

Over time, the value of agricultural products which the area was famous for declined and the value of real estate rose, thus Ashland's urban/suburban character developed when farmlands and orchards were subdivided into town lots of about one acre each.

San Lorenzo Grove, an eight-acre natural park located on today's Tracy Street, became a popular recreation destination for the region's community.

The park was owned by the Oakland-San Leandro-Hayward Electric Railway and included a dance pavilion, picnic grounds, playing fields, concession area and an outdoor bandstand.

The park operated until 1917 when it was converted to apricot orchards then into single family residential subdivisions.

World War II brought a large number of new people to unincorporated Alameda County and after the war; large scale "cookie-cutter" housing subdivisions replaced most of the remaining agriculture, nurseries, and greenhouses.

[9] Ashland is named after the Oregon ash tree which grew in abundance along the San Lorenzo creek and throughout the community.

[9] The San Lorenzo Creek is the southern border of Ashland[10] and boasts the oldest bay tree in the world.

In 2019, the Eden Area Municipal Advisory Council was created by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors[30] in order to advise the Board of Supervisors, the Alameda County Planning Commission[31] and the West County Board of Zoning Adjustments,[32] on policy and decision making for the unincorporated communities of Ashland, Cherryland, San Lorenzo and Hayward Acres.

[33] Ashland is policed by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, Eden Township Substation, and the California Highway Patrol.