Auburn is a city in DeKalb County, Indiana, United States. The population was 12,074 at the 2000 census. Founded in 1836 by Wesley Park (1811-1868), the city is the county seat of DeKalb County[3].
Geography
Auburn is located at 41°21′56″N 85°03′23″W / 41.365505°N 85.056355°W / 41.365505; -85.056355.[4]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.7 square miles (17.2 km²), all of it land.
Most of Auburn is located in Union civil township. Portions of Jackson, Keyser and Grant civil townships are also within the city limits.
History
Auburn's site on Cedar Creek was chosen by Wesley Park and John Badlam Howe at the intersection of two major trails, Goshen-Defiance Road and Coldwater Road, and next to the land of John Houlton.[5] The name for the community likely came from "The Deserted Village" by Oliver Goldsmith, that begins "Sweet Auburn! Loveliest village of the plain." [6] The plat of the Village of Auburn is dated April 21, 1836, but it was held by Howe and not recorded until March 12, 1879. John Drury purchased the first lot (Lot 73) for $25.00 on September 5, 1837. The first store was built at Park's corners by Thomas Freeman, applying for a license on March 5, 1838, and bringing supplies by horseback from Fort Wayne. Daniel Altenburg, Levi Walsworth, the Sherlock family, Samuel Sprott, David Weave, David Shoemaker, Henry Curtis, Lyman Childsey, James Cosper, and David Cosper were early residents.
A post office was established in 1839. In 1841, malaria ran through the town, and in 1843 a terrible storm wreaked havoc on cabins and crops. The Church of God was built by the Presbyterians in 1846. The Village of Auburn was incorporated in 1849, divided into wards, and governed under a town board and constable. By the end of the Civil War, the town included over 700 inhabitants. The storm of September 29, 1872, destroyed Odd Fellow's Hall and damaged the Methodist Episcopal church. A few months later (April 6, 1873), the new brick block of Seventh Street (Snyder's Building) collapsed, also destroying the Ensley Building.[7] Auburn water and lights was constructed in 1898. The change in status to the City of Auburn on March 26, 1900 followed a referendum. Notable citizen Charles Eckhart erected a public library and a YMCA building. The Auburn Automobile Company founded in 1900 produced its first automobile in 1903.[8] William Wrigley, Jr. and Errett Lobban Cord controlled interests in the company that eventually acquired Duesenberg, Lexington, and Lycoming. The company failed in August 1937. The Auburn Rubber Company was started in 1913 as the Double Fabric Tire Company, making tires for Auburn Automobile Company. In the 1920's as Auburn Rubber, it became a large manufacturer of rubber toys, leaving Auburn in 1959.
Notorious bank robber John Dillinger and some accomplices raided Auburn's police station on October 14, 1933, stealing a submachine gun, two steel vests, three rifles, six pistols and over 1000 rounds of ammunition.[9] The acts that led to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349 (1978), the leading American case on judicial immunity, took place in Auburn in 1971. On June 28, 1988, four workers were asphyxiated at a local metal-plating plant in the worst confined-space industrial accident in U.S. history; a fifth victim died two days later. [10]
Demographics
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 12,074 people, 4,927 households, and 3,202 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,816.2 people per square mile (701.0/km²). There were 5,258 housing units at an average density of 790.9/sq mi (305.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.71% White, 0.35% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.61% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.75% of the population.
DeKalb County Court House, Auburn, Indiana.
There were 4,927 households out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.2% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.0% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $42,762, and the median income for a family was $52,687. Males had a median income of $38,007 versus $24,414 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,945. About 2.9% of families and 5.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Auburn is governed by an elected mayor and seven-member common council and a three-member board of public works and safety consisting of the mayor and two others appointed by the mayor. Five members of the common council are elected from individual districts and two are elected at-large. A list of persons who have served as mayor appears in the table below.
| Mayors of Auburn |
Term(s) |
| Donald A. Garwood |
1900–1902 |
| Thomas H. Sprott |
1902–1904 |
| James W.Y. McClellan |
1904–1906
1914–1918 |
| George O. Dennison |
1906–1910 |
| Hugh Culbertson |
1910–1914 |
| Eli C. Walker |
1918–1922 |
| Warren Lige |
1922–1935 |
| Lodi E. Potter |
1935–1948 |
| Hal E. Hoham |
1949–1952 |
| H. Gerald Oren |
1952–1964 |
| Clarren L. Boger |
1964–1968 |
| Donald M. Allison |
1968–1972 |
| John L. Foley |
1972–1976 |
| Jesse A. ("Jack") Sanders |
1976–1984 |
| Burtis L. Dickman |
1984–1992 |
| Norman N. Rohm |
1992–2000 |
| Norman E. Yoder |
2000— |
Media
- Radio stations
- 1570 AM WGLL -- religious
- 106.7 FM WFGA -- studios in Auburn, transmitter in Hicksville, Ohio. The radio station is known as "Froggy 106.7."
- Television stations
- Newspaper
- The Star, (formerly The Evening Star)
Education
Most of Auburn lies in the DeKalb County Central United School District. Public schools serving Auburn are:
There is also a K-12 private school:
- Lakewood Park Christian School
Events and sites of interest
Auburn is the location of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, held each Labor Day weekend, and of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum and the National Automotive and Truck Museum of the United States. Both are National Historic Landmarks. The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, with the Kruse International auction, is said to host the world's largest automotive auction.[who?] These automotive-related events are the legacy of the Auburn Automobile Company, which closed in the late 1930s. The company had its headquarters and a factory in Auburn. Other museums located near Auburn include the Hoosier Air Museum, the Kruse Automotive and Carriage Museum and the World War II Victory Museum. Auburn also hosts the annual DeKalb County Free Fall Fair, a six-day event usually held in the last week of September.
Auburn was also home to early automobile company DeSoto in 1913. This company has no connection with the DeSoto that was manufactured by Chrysler.
Notable natives and former residents
- Gordon Buehrig (1904–1990), automobile designer, lived in Auburn for two years while designing the 1935–1936 Auburn Speedster and is buried in Roselawn Cemetery.
- Errett Lobban Cord (1894–1974), industrialist, lived in Auburn while running the Auburn Automobile Company.
- Will Cuppy (1884–1949), humorist and journalist, was born in Auburn, graduated from Auburn High School and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery.
- Charles Eckhart (1841–1915), industrialist and philanthropist, founded the Eckhart Carriage Company, predecessor of the Auburn Automobile Company, and was Prohibition Party candidate for Governor of Indiana in 1900. He lived in Auburn from 1874 until his death and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
- James I. Farley (1871–1948), member of US House of Representatives, 1933–1939, and noted Postmaster General, lived in Auburn while an executive of the Auburn Automobile Company and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
- Walter Hartman Hodge (1896–1975) was an American lawyer and judge.
- Don Lash (1912–1994), track and field champion who won the 1938 James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States, graduated from Auburn High School in 1933.
- Charles A.O. McClellan (1835–1898), member of US House of Representatives, 1889–1892, lived in Auburn and practiced law there.
- Mark Shaw (b. 1945), attorney, author and network television personality, was born in Auburn and graduated from Auburn High School.
- Rollie Zeider (1883–1967), major league baseball player, 1910–1918, played for Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Chi-Feds, Chicago Whales and Chicago Cubs. He grew up in Auburn and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
City logo
The official city logo, pictured at right, is based on the logo of the former Auburn Automobile Company. The company went out of business in the 1930s. The municipality began using the logo in the 1980s. The city's official nickname is '"Home of the Classics,"' a reference to the "classic" automobiles once manufactured there.
References
- ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ detailed city history
- ^ City Parks and Recreation
- ^ USA Cities
- ^ Automotive History of Auburn
- ^ John Toland, The Dillinger Days, Da Capo Press edition, 1995 p. 132 ISBN 9780306806261; G. Russell Girardin, William J. Helmer and Rick Mattix, Dillinger: The Untold Story, , Indiana University Press, 2005, p. 35. ISBN 0253325560
- ^ Joseph A. Kinney and William G. Mosley, "Death on the Job," The Multinational Monitor, April 1990, v. 11, no. 4, citing a report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
External links
