Auburn, Maine, United States

🇺🇸 Auburn is a small city in south-central Maine within the United States. The city serves as the county seat of Androscoggin County. Auburn and its sister city Lewiston are known locally as the Twin Cities or Lewiston–Auburn (L–A).

History The area was originally part of the Pejepscot Purchase, land bought in 1714 by an association of people from Boston and Portsmouth following the Treaty of Portsmouth, which brought peace between the Abenaki Indians and the settlers of present-day Maine. In 1736, however, the Massachusetts General Court granted a large section of the land to veterans of the 1690 Battle of Quebec. Conflicting claims led to prolonged litigation; consequently, settlement was delayed until after the French and Indian Wars.

Auburn was first settled in 1786 as part of Bakerstown, renamed Poland when it was incorporated by the Massachusetts General Court in 1795. It was then part of Minot, formed from parts of Poland and incorporated in 1802. Auburn would itself be formed from parts of Minot and incorporated on February 24, 1842. The name was apparently inspired by "Auburn", a village (real or fictitious) featured in the 1770 poem "The Deserted Village" by Oliver Goldsmith. Originally part of Cumberland County, the town became county seat of Androscoggin County at its creation in 1854. By annexing land from towns around it, including part of Poland in 1852, Minot in 1873, and all of Danville (first called Pejepscot) in 1867, Auburn grew geographically into one of Maine's largest municipalities. Incorporated a city on February 22, 1869, Auburn in 1917 would be the first city in the state to adopt a council-manager form of government.

Farms supplied grain and produce, but with construction of the bridge across the river to Lewiston in 1823, and especially after arrival of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad from Portland in January 1848, the community developed into a mill town. Mills were built to operate by water power from falls on the Androscoggin River and Little Androscoggin River. In 1835, the factory system of shoe manufacture originated at Auburn. Other firms manufactured cotton and woolen textiles, carriages, iron goods, bricks and furniture. The population in 1860 was only about 4,000 but by 1890 it was about 12,000, when its shoe factories attracted many French Canadian immigrants, many of whom arrived by train from Quebec. Steady population growth continued to about 1960 when the population was about 24,500.

In Auburn, shoe manufacturing became the dominant industry by the late 19th century. The City Seal, depicting a spindle with different types of shoes at each outside point, was designed when Auburn was positioning itself as the shoe manufacturing centre of Maine in the mid-19th century. In 1917 one factory in Auburn was producing 75 percent of the world's supply of white canvas shoes; however, after World War II the shoe industry began to decline, and between 1957 and 1961 the largest manufacturers closed their factories.

The area became noted in 1985 due to the plane crash that took the life of Samantha Smith.

Lewiston-Auburn Shoe Strike In 1937, one of the largest labor disputes in Maine history occurred in Lewiston and Auburn. The Lewiston-Auburn Shoe Strike lasted from March to June and at its peak involved 4,000 to 5,000 workers on strike. After workers attempted to march across the Androscoggin River from Lewiston to Auburn, Governor Lewis Barrows sent in the Maine Army National Guard. Some labor leaders, CIO Secretary Powers Hapgood, were imprisoned for months after a Maine Supreme Judicial Court judge issued an injunction seeking to end the strike.

Education Public primary and secondary education is provided by the Auburn School Department, including Edward Little High School.

In addition, there are the following schools in the city: • St. Dominic Regional High School, a Catholic high school • Central Maine Community College, community college

Media: Press • The Sun Journal prints a daily newspaper in two different editions statewide. The Sun Journal was the recipient of the 2008 New England Daily Newspaper of the Year and the 2009 Maine Press Association Newspaper of the Year.

Transport: Road • Interstate 95 • US Route 202 • State Route 11 • State Route 4 • State Route 121 • State Route 136 • State Route 122.

By air Auburn is the home of the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport, located off Hotel Road.

Transport: Rail Two freight railroads pass through the city. Pan Am Railways (formerly Springfield Terminal Railway and Maine Central Railroad) is the primary rail connection for the city. Pan Am's main line from Rotterdam Junction, New York to Northern Maine Junction, Maine closely parallels US Route 202 through much of Auburn. The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad's main line from Portland to Montreal also runs through the south-western section of the city, passing near the Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport; at Lewiston Junction, a branch leased from the Lewiston and Auburn Railroad runs north-west through Auburn. The branch formerly crossed the Androscoggin River into Lewiston.

Sites of interest • Androscoggin Historical Society & Museum—artifacts of local history, Civil War memorabilia, farming tools and a bird collection • Auburn Fire Department Museum—a collection of antique fire equipment from the city • Festival Plaza, completed in 2002—public park and performance space along the Androscoggin River. Two public water sculptures designed by artist Ross Miller operate seasonally – the Falls Fountain, that references the Androscoggin River and Native American legends of being able to hide behind the falls; and the Shoe Fountain, a series of cast bronze shoes recalling the early shoe manufacturing history of the area. A map of the Androscoggin River is cast into the plaza with colored concrete. • Good Shepherd Food Bank distributes food to agencies across the state from its main warehouse in Auburn • Hamster Point—Majestic river side gardens • Knight House Museum (1796) – the oldest frame house downtown, with a pre-1835 handwork shoe shop • Auburn Mall.

Historic Places • A. A. Garcelon House (1890) • Androscoggin County Courthouse and Jail (1857) • Auburn Public Library (1903) • Barker Mill (1873) • Charles A. Jordan House (1880) • Charles L. Cushman House (1889) • Edward Little House (1827) • Engine House (1879) • First Universalist Church (1876) • Frank L. Dingley House (1867) • Free Baptist Church • Gay-Munroe House (1878) • Holman Day House (1895) • Horace Munroe House (1899) • Horatio G. Foss House (1914) • Lamoreau Site • Main Street Historic District • Roak Block (1871) • William A. Robinson House (1874) • William Briggs Homestead (1797).