Famous Roads: how Cecil Ashburn paved 10k+ miles of road

Anyone who has driven through South Huntsville has likely traveled on Cecil Ashburn Drive, which connects Hampton Cove and Jones Valley. The 3.6-mile road opened in 2000, and is one of the busiest roads in the city.

So, who is the namesake for this well-traveled road? In this week’s edition of our Famous Roads series, we look at Cecil Ashburn, one of the most important developers in Huntsville’s history.

Cecil Ashburn Drive’s namesake was a big reason for Huntsville’s growth

Work began in the late 1990s on what would become Cecil Ashburn Drive, and the road opened to traffic in 2000. But it wasn’t until 2002 when the road was named.

According to an article in the June 2006 edition of Old Huntsville, Ashburn said he and and his uncle, Pat Gray, started a road-building business in the 1940s after World War II with “an old pick up truck and a little money I had saved from playing poker while in service.”

The first job Ashburn and Gray secured was cleaning a ditch in Hurricane Creek, a job for which they received $20.

However, when the space program ignited rapid growth in Huntsville, Ashburn and Gray began building roads at an astounding pace. By the time Ashburn retired in 1991, his company reportedly built and paved more than 10,000 miles of roads, including Memorial Parkway.

Ashburn died in 2012. He had two children and five grandchildren.

Cecil Ashburn’s legacy in Huntsville

James Cecil Ashburn was born in 1920 in Madison County, where his family had lived for decades. He eventually graduated from the now-defunct Riverton High School in 1937. By 1939, he was working as a surveyor for the federal government.

When he enlisted in the U.S. Army right before the start of World War II, he was sent to engineering school in Virginia. He recalled that part of his schooling involved studying the New Jersey Turnpike, and that was inspiration to one day return to Madison County and build roads.

In addition to building roads, Ashburn’s accomplishments also led to him giving back to the community in other ways:

• Ashburn’s company is estimated to have employed more than 6,000 people, most of whom lived right here in the Huntsville area.
• He served on the Huntsville City School Board.
• He also served on the City of Huntsville Electric System Board.
• He donated more than 100 acres of land to build Madison Academy.
• He formed the Ashburn Family Foundation, which delivers grants to non-profits in education, arts, health and human services.

Check back next week for a look at another edition of our Famous Roads series! In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter.