Auburn was first counted by the census in 1890, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #94 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Auburn was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1890.
Auburn first appears in the census in 1890. Five smaller post offices, Slaughter (1867), Christopher (1887) and Pialschie (1887), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 740 in 18902020 census: 87,256136 years
How historic is Auburn?
C+
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Auburn is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #94 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Auburn’s overall grade.
Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Auburn’s 1.1 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: the first census (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.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Auburn’s post office has been open since 1893. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Slaughter
1867–1893
Christopher
1887–1917
Pialschie
1887–1907
Stuck
1887–1901
Auburn
1893–today
Thomas
1907–1925
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Auburn Green Mobile Home ParkAuburn Hills Mobile Home ParkAuburn Manor Community Mobile Home ParkAuburn Mobile ParkChristopherCollege Place Mobile Home ParkDon Juan Mobile Home ParkForest Villa Manor Mobile Home ParkLaurelwood Mobile Home ParkLea HillLeisure Manor Mobile CommunityMeredithPalisades Mobile Home EstatesRio Verde Mobile EstatesShady Hill Mobile Home ParkSkylark Village II Mobile Home ParkSkylark Village Mobile Home ParkSpaids Unique Manor and Estates Mobile Home ParkStuckTall Cedars Mobile CourtThe River Mobile EstatesThomasWildwood Mobile Home Estates
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Auburn
Mountain ViewWhite Lake
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Auburn’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Auburn’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Before the first European arrived in the Green River Valley in the 1850s, the area was home to the Muckleshoot people, who were temporarily driven out by Indian wars later that decade. Several settler families arrived in the 1860s, including Levi Ballard, who set up a homestead between the Green River and White River. Ballard filed for a plat to establish a town in February 1886, naming it Slaughter for an officer slain during the Indian wars in 1855.
The Auburn post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1891.
How does Auburn rank for history?
Auburn is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #94 of 285 in Washington. 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.
What is on the National Register in Auburn?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Auburn Public Library (listed 1982, the first). 9 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Auburn?
3% of Auburn’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (1), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2009
