Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1845.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Auburn’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Auburn is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Auburn’s overall grade.
New Hampshire towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New Hampshire town has 9.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Auburn’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (8% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1624.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.4 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Auburn’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Auburn was originally settled by Native Americans in 1624. It was a fishing settlement called by Native Americans "Massabesic" (the current name of the town's largest lake). British settlers arrived in the area in 1720 and made peace with the Natives until the French and Indian War. The Massabesic settlement was destroyed, and the nearby town of Chester claimed the land. It was known as "Chester Woods", "Chester West Parish", "Long Meadow", and then Auburn. Auburn became an independent town on June 25, 1845, with a population of 1,200 people. As with Auburn, Maine, Auburn, Massachusetts, and Auburn, New York, the name is from Oliver Goldsmith's popular 18th-century poem, "The Deserted Village", which begins:
Passages that mention Auburn, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Chester, New Hampshire, including Auburn1926 · page 78Read the page →
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study, although his sympathies were wholly on the side of the Colonists in their struggle for freedom. Much interesting material concerning the Presbyterians of Chester and their places of worship in Chester and Longmeadow, now Auburn, may be found in Chase's History of the Town of Chester. In 1842 the Presbyterian church was dissolved, and what is now the Auburn Congregational Church was organized June II, 1842 under the name of "The Second Congregational Church in Chester."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
HISTORY OF CHESTER NEW HAMPSHIRE INCLUDING AUBURN A SUPLEMENT TO THE HISTORY OF OLD CHESTER1926 · page 78Read the page →
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study, although his sympathies were wholly on the side of the Colonists in their struggle for freedom. Much interesting material concerning the Presbyterians of Chester and their places of worship in Chester and Longmeadow, now Auburn, may be found in Chase’s History of the Town of Chester. In 1842 the Presbyterian church was dissolved, and what is now the Auburn Congregational Church was organized June 11, 1842 under the name of “The Second Congregational Church in Chester.”
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History of Chester, New Hampshire, including Auburn1926 · page 451Read the page →
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According to the writings of the aforesaid William Graham, one James Horner, a carpenter and a millwright came from the North of Ireland with two sisters and built the first saw-mill in the vicinity of Auburn village about 1720. It is also stated (Granite State Magazine 1 : 237) that James Horner built the first house in what is now Auburn. One James Horner appears among the petitioners of Londonderry, Chester, Derryfield, Bedford, Goffstown, Starkstown, Pembroke and Penacook, 13 July. 1764. (N. H. Town Papers, 9: 523).
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HISTORY OF CHESTER NEW HAMPSHIRE INCLUDING AUBURN A SUPLEMENT TO THE HISTORY OF OLD CHESTER1926 · page 451Read the page →
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HIsToRICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE Auburn, early known as Long Meadow and West Chester, was incorporated as a separate town by the New Hampshire legislature, June 25, 1845. It was set off from the western part of Chester.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Auburn, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1624, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Auburn’s post office opened in 1845, and the census of 1840 counted 869 people here.
How does Auburn rank for history?
Auburn is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Auburn?
12% of Auburn’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1984.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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