Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
“Auburn Community Mausoleum is a historic mausoleum located in Roselawn Cemetery at Auburn, Indiana. It was built in 1917, and is a one-story, monolithic cubic limestone structure with simple Classical Revival style detail.”
Wikipedia article Auburn Community Mausoleum, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 29 National Register listings published here for DeKalb County · listed in 2014 · category: Building.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service
The chapter on Union Township in History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Old Families, published 1914 names Auburn. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
The township of Union is centrally located, and may be regarded as the most important in the county, due to the location within its limits of Auburn, the county seat. Union township is bounded on the north by Grant township, on the west by Richland and Keyser, on the south by Jackson, and on the east by Wilmington. Cedar creek runs down from the northwest corner, through the township and leaves near the southwest corner. This drains the township very thoroughly, although not many years ago there were several tamarack swamps in it. The northern and western portions of the area are generally rolling and somewhat sandy. The southeastern part is more level, and of a clayey constituency. The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, the Vandalia of the Pennsylvania system, and the Baltimore & Ohio railroads cross the township at various pomts.
Passage source: History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Old Families, published 1914.
In discussing the first settlement of DeKalb, the most will be written in the history of Auburn, as the pioneer story of that town is practically synonymous with that of the township. Early settlers in the township on farms were: Kneeland Abbott on the south, David Altenburg and Levi Walsworth on the east, and the Husselmans and McEntaffers on the north. Altenburg and Walsworth moved in during November, 1838; James R. Cosper and John Weeks in the spring of 1841 ; and the same year John Somers and Lyman Chidsey settled southeast of Auburn. In the northeast, Rockwell, Lightner and Morringston were the first settlers. Two days were occupied with raising the heavy frame of the Husselman barn, and most of the settlers for miles around were engaged in the work.
Passage source: History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Old Families, published 1914.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Union Township - 4,466 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 14 fires within 5 miles of Auburn Community Mausoleum between 2002 and 2004, burning about 64 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 July 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 8 July 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 28 April 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 27 April 2004 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 26 April 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 16 April 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 23 March 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 11 March 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Auburn Community Mausoleum: 1 prospect, 1 producer, 1 past producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn Sand Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Fedrick Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | ||
| Scott Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Auburn, the town this property stands in, in 43 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 27 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 2 flood, 1 tornado. The reports record 1 death. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | 1 killed | Law enforcement officials reported multiple trees down along 7th Street. One of these trees in the 400 block of 7th Street, fell onto a westbound United Parcel Service truck, striking the driver compartment. The 46 year old male driver was killed instantly. |
| January 2008 | Flood | Auburn | $150,000 | At least 6 roads were temporarily closed, with many others posted with high water signs, as ditches overflowed and low areas filled. A senior care center was threatened by flood waters coming out of a overflown retention pond. Sandbags were placed to help, but luckily no evacuations were needed. No exact damage figure were available, but are estimated at around $150,000. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | $20,000 | Power pole on fire due to a lightning strike. Downed power lines in and around Auburn. |
| April 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | $20,000 | One home had its roof blown off with several large trees and limbs down in town. |
| March 2025 | Lightning | Auburn | $15,000 | Power pole on fire due to a lightning strike. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | $15,000 | Photo on Twitter shows a large tree down onto a covered porch. Porch roof collapsed. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | $10,000 | Numerous trees were down across the entire county. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | $8,000 | Some shingles removed from a roof and a flag pole was snapped 2 feet above the ground. |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | $5,000 | A mobile home on CR 427 was knocked on its side. Large tree limbs crushed the side of the trailer. A newspaper report stated that a citizens' band radio tower, set in cement, also toppled over and bent across the trailer. At another property across the street several trees were knocked down and two large pine trees were uprooted. |
| July 2025 | Flood | Auburn | $1,000 | Photo on social media of standing water, estimated to be a few inches deep, throughout a strip mall parking lot. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | $1,000 | Tree blown down. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | The pubic reported a small tree was blown down. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | The public reports a tree is down and blocking the roadway. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | The public reports that a tree fell into wires and that both are in the roadway. |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Central dispatch relayed a report of a tree being blown down onto a garage on 9th Street in Auburn. No information on the size or health of the tree and no injuries were reported. |
| May 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | The public reported a one to two foot diameter tree snapped and fell onto a house. No fatalities or injuries were reported. |
| May 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Emergency management officials reported trees and power lines down in Auburn. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Amateur radio operators estimated winds of 50 to 60 mph with several four to five inch tree limbs down. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Law enforcement officials reported multiple tree branches down throughout the east side of Auburn. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Indiana State Police officials reported a semi-trailer rolled over on Interstate 69, at mile marker 129. No injuries were reported, but northbound lanes were closed for several hours. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Law enforcement officials reported numerous trees down. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Auburn | - | Trained spotters reported hail up to the size of quarters. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Auburn | - | Reported 2 miles south of US 6 on county road 19. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | 4 to 5 inch diameter tree branches down. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Two large trees were blown down. |
| March 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Tree was blown onto power lines. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Law enforcement reported trees down in Auburn. |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | A wind gust at DeKalb County Airport was measured at 75 mph. Strong winds split the trunk of a large tree near a house on DeKalb County Road 60, between the DeKalb County Airport and County Road 427. Winds tore the roof off of a barn east of the airport on DeKalb County Road 60 near the Meese Chapel United Methodist Church. Winds also blew down tents that had been set up at Kruse Auction Park in preparation for the Labor Day weekend classic car auction. |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Trees down. |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Trees and power lines down. |
| September 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | Two trees were reported blown down. |
| December 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | LOTS OF TREE LIMBS WERE BLOWN DOWN. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| April 1999 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Facility | 0.5 miles | 1978 |
 | Eckhart Public Library and Park | 0.6 miles | 1981 |
 | Downtown Auburn Historic District | 1.7 miles | 1986 |
 | Dekalb County Home and Barn | 2.4 miles | 1983 |
 | Rakestraw House | 2.7 miles | 1983 |
 | Henry Shull Farmhouse Inn | 3.0 miles | 1983 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 14000069 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| DeKalb County | All 29 listed properties in this county. |
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