Auburn, Oregon
Auburn was an unincorporated community in rural Baker County, Oregon, United States, now considered a ghost town.[2][3] Auburn lies off Oregon Route 7 southwest of Baker City and east of McEwen on the edge of the Blue Mountains.
Auburn, Oregon | |
---|---|
Former unincorporated community | |
Auburn, Oregon Auburn, Oregon | |
Coordinates: 44°41′58″N 117°56′43″W | |
Country | United States |
State | Oregon |
County | Baker |
Elevation | 4,213 ft (1,284 m) |
Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
Area code(s) | 458 and 541 |
GNIS feature ID | 1136017[1] |
Auburn is deserted today, but the former gold mining boomtown was once the largest community in Eastern Oregon.[4] Auburn only had one or two buildings until 1861, when gold was discovered in the area.[4] By September 1862, Auburn had grown into a full-fledged town with over 20 stores and 1000 homes to serve the mining industry.[4][5] In that month the Oregon Legislative Assembly made Auburn the first county seat of Baker County, but by the 1870s Auburn was largely deserted,[4] with a population of 200 people in 1873.[5]
The post office, the first in northeast Oregon, closed in 1903.[5] It had opened on November 1, 1862, with William F. McCrary as the first postmaster.[6]
See also
References
- "Auburn". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
- Miller, Donald C. (1977). Ghost Towns of Washington and Oregon. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Company. p. 69. ISBN 0-87108-500-3.
- Florin, Lambert (1970). Oregon Ghost Towns. Seattle: Superior Publishing Company. p. 11. OCLC 2713643.
- Allen, Cain (2005). "Auburn, Oregon, c.1861". Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- Bailey, Barbara Ruth (1982). Main Street: Northeastern Oregon. Oregon Historical Society. p. 43. ISBN 0-87595-073-6.
- McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 37–38. ISBN 978-0875952772.
Further reading
- Bright, Verne. "Blue Mountain Eldorados: Auburn, 1861." Oregon Historical Quarterly 62, 1961: 213-236
- McLoughlin, Virginia Duffy. "Cynthia Stafford and the Lost Mining Town of Auburn." Oregon Historical Quarterly 98, 1997: 6-55