The story
Read it all →How Auburn came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Auburn.
The town was named from a place called Auburn, mentioned in the poem "The Deserted Village" by Oliver Goldsmith.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Auburn
Auburn’s post office opened in 1902, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1990.
1902first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Auburn began
When was Auburn founded?
1902
The Auburn post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 474 in 19902020 census: 776124 years
Founding year: the first Auburn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Auburn’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · 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.Timeline
Auburn, 1902 to 1949
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Auburn on the map, 1949 to 1975
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Auburn. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1949New Auburn sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Auburn.
People over time
Auburn, census by census
Between 474 and 776 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Auburn’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Auburn
Nobody well known was born in Auburn itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Auburn had its own post office from 1902 to 1904.
Auburn
19001960today
Gone or out of use
Auburn Center SchoolschoolAuburn Valley SchoolschoolAuburnville SchoolschoolSpringbrook SchoolschoolZion Churchchurch
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Auburn
AuburnNew AuburnSpringbrook
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Sand CreekIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNew AuburnIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBloomerIts storyC+DovreIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCooks ValleyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrantIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Auburn’s history
What year was Auburn founded?
The Auburn post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, 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.