Ashdad is a small, historic railway settlement tucked into Bagot Township (now part of Greater Madawaska), along the Madawaska River corridor. Its origins trace to its function as a station on the Kingston & Pembroke Railway—familiarly the “Kick and Push”—operational from the 1870s until the mid-20th century. The arrival of the railway marked a formative chapter, linking timber resources to broader markets and prompting the establishment of key community anchors—most notably a sawmill, a hotel, and postal services—by the early 1900s.

Around 1908, Lovell’s Gazetteer describes Ashdad (then spelled “Ashdod” for the station) as housing about 200 residents, its small-scale industry centered on the sawmill and railway services. Although the railway line has since ceased operation, the former route lives on as part of the K&P Rail Trail, with Ashdad recognized today as one of the small nodes along the greenery of Greater Madawaska.

From a land surveyor’s lens, Ashdad illustrates how railway‑driven settlements shaped land division in eastern Ontario. Lot layouts here often follow the old spur of the K&P, with centrelines and easements still present in cadastral records. The juxtaposition of railway alignment and riverine topography offers a clear study in how transportation corridors inform parcel boundaries—even today—as both physical markers and legal references.