Auburn, California

Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Placer County, California, United States. Its population was 13,776 during the 2020 census. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history and is registered as a California Historical Landmark.

Auburn is part of the Sacramento metropolitan area.

History

thumb|left| Placer County Courthouse was constructed between 1894 and 1898.

Archaeological finds place the southwestern border for the prehistoric Martis people in the Auburn area. The indigenous Nisenan, an offshoot of the Maidu, were the first to establish a permanent settlement in the Auburn area.

In the spring of 1848, a group of French gold miners arrived and camped in what would later be known as the Auburn Ravine. This group was on its way to the gold fields in Coloma, California, and it included Francois Gendron, Philibert Courteau, and Claude Chana. The young Chana discovered gold on May 16, 1848. After finding the gold deposits in the soil, the trio decided to stay for more prospecting and mining.

Placer mining in the Auburn area was very good, with the camp first becoming known as the North Fork Dry Diggings. This name was changed to the Woods Dry Diggings, after John S. Wood settled down, built a cabin, and started to mine in the ravine. The area soon developed into a mining camp, and it was officially named Auburn in August 1849, by miners from Auburn, New York. By 1850, the town's population had grown to about 1,500 people, and in 1851, Auburn was chosen as the seat of Placer County. Gold mining operations moved up the ravine to the site of present-day Auburn. In 1865, the Central Pacific Railroad, the western leg of the First transcontinental railroad, reached Auburn, as it was being built east from Sacramento toward Ogden, Utah.

The restored Old Town has houses and retail buildings from the middle of the 19th century. The oldest fire station and the Post Office date from the Gold Rush years. Casual gold-mining accessories, as well as American Indian and Chinese artifacts, can also be viewed by visitors at the Placer County Museum.

Auburn was the home and birthplace of noted science fiction and fantasy poet and writer Clark Ashton Smith. A memorial to him is located near Old Town.

Geography

thumb|500px|left|Rolling hills of Auburn, taken near Indian Hill Road

Auburn is located at .

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.38%, is water.

Auburn is situated in the Northern California foothills of the Sierra Nevada range, approximately above the confluence of the North Fork and Middle Fork of the American River. It is located between Sacramento and Reno, Nevada, along Interstate 80. Mountainous wilderness canyons and the western slope of the Sierra Nevada lie adjacent eastward, while gentle rolling foothills well-suited for agriculture lie to the west. The crest of the Sierra Nevada lies approximately eastward, and the Central Valley lies approximately to the west.

Climate

Auburn has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) that is characterized by cool, moist winters and hot, dry summers. Average December temperatures are a maximum of and a minimum of . Average July temperatures are a maximum of and a minimum of . Annually, there are an average of 62.9 days with highs of or higher, an average of 7.3 days with or higher, and an average of 19.6 days with or lower.

Auburn's Köppen classification and climate similarities to locations such as Napa and parts of Italy make it a suitable region for growing wine grapes. Auburn and the surrounding areas of Placer County are home to over 20 wineries.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Auburn had a population of 13,776. The population density was .

The age distribution was 17.4% under the age of 18, 6.8% aged 18 to 24, 21.6% aged 25 to 44, 27.6% aged 45 to 64, and 26.6% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 49.0 years. For every 100 females there were 88.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 85.9 males age 18 and over.

There were 6,075 households in Auburn, of which 23.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 43.9% were married-couple households, 7.1% were cohabiting-couple households, 18.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22. There were 3,650 families (60.1% of all households).

There were 6,370 housing units at an average density of . Of these, 95.4% were occupied and 4.6% were vacant; 59.5% were owner-occupied, and 40.5% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.4%.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

| White || 11,065 || 80.3%

| Black or African American || 123 || 0.9%

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 154 || 1.1%

| Asian || 317 || 2.3%

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 17 || 0.1%

| Some other race || 599 || 4.3%

| Two or more races || 1,501 || 10.9%

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 1,693 || 12.3%

Arts and culture

Landmarks

Auburn is home to Placer High School, which is one of the oldest high schools in California.

Colossal sculptures are located throughout the town; the statues chronicle Auburn's history, such as a middle-aged Claude Chana gold panning in the nearby American River, and a Chinese laborer building the Transcontinental Railroad.

Hidden Falls Regional Park is located in nearby woodlands and contains of multi-use trails.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Auburn is served by Amtrak passenger rail service a few times a day, and its railroad station is the eastern terminus of Amtrak California's Capitol Corridor train. Interstate 80 is the main east–west highway through this area, connecting Sacramento to the west and the Lake Tahoe/Reno areas to the east. This town can be reached through several interchanges on Interstate 80, three of which (exits 118, 119 A through C, and 120) are somewhat within the town limits. California Highway 49 is the main north–south highway through this area. Highway 49 connects Auburn with the towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City to its north, and Placerville to the south.

The Auburn Municipal Airport is located north of town, and it is solely a general aviation airport. Auburn owns and operates this airport and an industrial site. The airport site covers including an industrial site. This airport has a single -long runway. General aviation services are available.

Notable people

Tomas Arana (1955– ), actor
Ben Nighthorse Campbell (1933–2025 ), Olympian in judo, United States Senator from Colorado
Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau (1805–1866), son of Sacagawea, explorer, Orleans Hotel proprietor in Auburn, 1860–1866
Joseph James DeAngelo (1945– ), convicted as the East Area Rapist in 2020. He was a police officer in Auburn between 1976 and 1979, the same time as when the serial rapes occurred in the Sacramento area.
Stacy Dragila (1971- ), Olympic pole vault gold medalist
Jeff Hamilton (1966–2023), Olympic bronze medalist, professional skier
Jo Hamilton (1827–1904), Attorney General of California, Trustee of the California State Library, and pioneer lawyer of Placer County, California
Meghan Hays, communications executive and special assistant to former President Joe Biden
Clarence Hinkle (1880–1960), painter
George Lynch (1954- ), hard rock guitarist and songwriter, worked with heavy metal band Dokken
Kane Hodder (1955- ), stuntman and actor
Isaiah Piñeiro (1995- ), professional basketball player
Mary Eulalie Shannon (1824–1855), poet
Clark Ashton Smith (1893–1961), writer and artist, one of the West Coast Romantics
Paul Takagi (1923–2015), sociologist, criminologist, and professor at the University of California, Berkeley; he was a Japanese-American prisoner at the Manzanar War Relocation Center

In popular culture

thumb|right|The [[Queen Anne style architecture in the United States|Queen Anne-style Old Town Firehouse is a landmark. It originally adjoined a row of commercial buildings (now demolished). It was home to the Auburn Volunteer Fire Department.]]

Literature

In John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie were raised in Auburn.
In Anthony Horowitz's novel Nightrise, the hometown of the Presidential candidate, Senator John Trelawny was Auburn, and it was where Jamie Tyler saved him from an assassination attempt.

Film and television

The following films were, at least in part, shot in Auburn:

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
Breakdown
My Family