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History · Auburn

Auburn’s post office opened in 1878, and 70% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1880.

1878first post office
0on the National Register
70%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Auburn began

When was Auburn founded?

1878

The Auburn post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bone Creek (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 109 in 18802020 census: 79148 years
Founding year: the first Auburn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Auburn’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Auburn are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Auburn’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 199 in 1910; 79 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1964. Watch Auburn change.
★ 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.
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The story so far

Auburn, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Auburn yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Auburn is a town in Ritchie County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 80 at the 2020 census. Auburn was incorporated in 1900.

Its first post office opened in 1878. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 97 to 79 (-19%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

People over time

Auburn, census by census

010020018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 199

Peaked at 199 in 1910; 79 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Auburn’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Auburn, 1851 to 1910

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Bone Creek post office opens
  3. 1878Post officeThe Bone Creek post office closes
  4. 1878Post officeThe Auburn post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 199
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.
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On the map

Auburn on the map, 1906 to 1964

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Auburn. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Auburn on the 1906 USGS mapAuburn on the 1924 USGS mapAuburn on the 1964 USGS map1906Holbrook sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Auburn.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Auburn’s post office has been open since 1878. Another post office, Bone Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bone Creek
1851–1878
Auburn
1878–today
18501940today
1cemetery inside Auburn
Auburn Community

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Auburn’s history

What year was Auburn founded?

The Auburn post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 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.