Auburn, Massachusetts
44 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Auburn town. It lies in ZIP code area 01501. It stands on Dark Brook. The Survey maps it on the Worcester South quadrangle.
Then and now
1889 to 1989The same ground, surveyed 100 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Auburn
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 3 records
Goddard Rocket Launching SiteNational Historic Landmark · listed 1966
Joseph Stone Houselisted 1986
Tuttle Square Schoollisted 2002
Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record
- Thaddeus Chapin House, Auburnfederal building survey, 2 photographs
Businesses named in the fire insurance atlases 3 records
- Congregational ChurchChurch, in the atlas of 1910
- Ettrick Mills, Rug and Carpet M'f'g,-. 2Mill, in the atlas of 1910
- Woolen MillsMill, in the atlas of 1910
Topographic sheets covering this place
20 surveys from 44 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1889 USGS Webster quadrangle1:62500
- 1892 USGS Webster quadrangle1:62500, 9 printings
- 1908 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1921 USGS Webster quadrangle1:62500
- 1935 USGS Millbury quadrangle1:24000
- 1939 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:31680, 4 printings
- 1943 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000
- 1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:24000
- 1948 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:31680
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1973 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:25000
- 1973 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:24000
- 1975 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:25000
- 1983 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:25000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000
- 1989 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
5,419 words on this townshipHistory of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889 names this settlement in its chapter on Auburn Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
ToPOORAPHirAi,. - Auburn lies on the map an irregular pentagon in form, its eastern boundary and base line touching Millbury, with Worcester on the north, Leicester on the west and Oxford on the south. Its area covers about 10,000 acres, with a diameter of five miles in its extreme length. The centre, or the Congregational Church, lies five miles distant south by west from Worcester City Hall. The Norwich and Worcester Railroad threads the eastern side of the town, with depots at Auburn and Stone's Crossing ; the Boston and Albany Railroad runs through the western part. It has no station, but Jamesville and Rochdale depots are respectively within a half-mile and a mile of the town line. In 1885 the Webster Branch was opened, whose junction with the Albany road is in Auburn. This branch has a station at West Auburn. Thus railroad facilities are good.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.
The surface is hilly, though without very high summits. The water-courses, trending northerly and easterly, join their channels to make the southern branch of the Blackstone River. These brooks and ponds are frequented by anglers, and three water privileges serve manufacturing uses and have for nearly a century. Pakachoag Hill extends two miles in the easterly part of Auburn, passing into Worcester, where it is crowned by the College of the Holy
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.
Cross. From its broad plateau one gets a fine view of Stoneville, Leicester steeples on the western horizon, Millbury, Grafton and Shrewsbury, Mt. Asnebumskitand blue Wachusett. Grassy Hill bordersou West Millbury, Prospect Hill stretches from West Auburn across the Oxford line. Growl and Beer's Hills rise in the northwest corner. We find our Auburn not the "loveliest village of the plain." The population is fairly distributed, the factory precinct of Stoneville being the more thickly built up. Pondville lies east of the centre. The inhabitants generally are farmers whose great barns show the tons of hay produced and the quantity of stock raised. Towns adjacent have a larger territory and population, and, with the exception of Millbury, a more ancient record. Our history narrates the origin, the doings and the present condition of an average New England rural community.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.
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 Auburn Town - it names this place 6 more 6 times.
Photographs
1 photograph,Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
73 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 73 fires within 5 miles of Auburn between 2015 and 2020, burning about 57 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 25 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 16 |
| Smoking | 11 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 September 2015 | Smoking | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 3 September 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 3 September 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 15 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 15 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 14 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 26 August 2020 | Smoking | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 13 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 1,555 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,555 specimens collected within 10 miles of Auburn between 1839 and 1974: 938 Plantae, 345 Animalia, 249 Fungi, 16 Unrecorded, 5 Protozoa, 2 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A E WOODHEAD, A. A. Eaton, A. B. Seymour and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.
| Image | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Sceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) Lyon | 1899 | H. H. Scudder | |
![]() | Ochrolechia tartarea (L.) A.Massal. | 1839 | E. Tuckerman | |
![]() | Carex laxiflora Lam. | 1840 | Thomas Nuttall | Cambridge. |
![]() | Carex vestita Willd. | 1840 | Thomas Nuttall | Cambridge. |
![]() | Mycobilimbia hypnorum (Lib.) Kalb & Hafellner | 1848 | E. Tuckerman | |
![]() | Cladonia cornucopioides F.Wilson | 1850 | J. L. Russell | Leicester |
![]() | Geranium maculatum L. | 1850 | not recorded | |
![]() | Packera aurea (L.) Á.Löve & D.Löve | 1850 | not recorded | |
![]() | Carex aperta Boott | 1853 | W. Boott | Massachusetts |
| Elymus repens (L.) Gould | 1892 | Arthur B. Seymour | Cambridge. | |
| Festuca pratensis Huds. | 1892 | Arthur B. Seymour | Cambridge. | |
| Hepatica americana (DC.) Ker Gawl. | 1892 | Clarence Kinney |
All 1,555 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 15 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Auburn: 10 past producers, 3 plants, 2 producers. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Titanium, Metal, Lead. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bd Bloomfield Co--Worcester, Ma. | Lead | Plant | ||
| Crucible Spec. Metals--Auburn, Ma. | Iron | Plant | ||
| Worcester B Plant Ti | Titanium, Metal | Plant | ||
| Auburn Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Crossover Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Donald P Graves Sand and Gravel | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Highway Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Lind Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Oxford Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Oxford Quarry Plant #8 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
15 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Auburn in 15 storm reports between 1995 and 2021: 7 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2001 | Lightning | Auburn | $15,000 | no account filed |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | $5,500 | In Auburn, a utility pole and wires were down on Rock Avenue. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | $5,000 | Wires were downed onto the ramp to Interstate 90 at Bryn Mawr Avenue by thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | $5,000 | Large branches and wires on Central Street were downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | $3,000 | Wires on Rochdale Street were downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| August 2020 | Hail | Auburn | - | In Auburn, dime sized hail was reported. |
| July 2019 | Hail | Auburn | - | Quarter sized hail. |
| July 2018 | Flash Flood | West Auburn | - | At 3:10 PM EST, a downpour over Auburn flooded the intersection of U.S. Route 20 and Southbridge Street. A water depth of 18 inches was reported on Route 20. |
| May 2009 | Hail | Auburn | - | Penny to quarter sized hail fell in Auburn. |
| July 2009 | Hail | Auburn | - | Penny size hail fell in a swath from Auburn to Worcester. |
| May 2011 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| April 1996 | Flash Flood | Auburn | - | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Auburn | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pondville | 0.8 miles | 44 | |
| Drury Square | 0.8 miles | 44 | |
| Stoneville | 1.6 miles | 44 | |
| Woodland Park | 2.2 miles | 44 | |
| West Auburn | 2.3 miles | 44 | |
| West Millbury | 2.3 miles | 44 | |
| Pakachoag | 2.4 miles | 44 | |
| Jamesville (historical) | 2.5 miles | 44 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 610588. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.




























