The city of Auburn is the county seat of Androscoggin County, Maine and one of two principal cities included in the Lewiston-Auburn Metropolitan area, commonly referred to as "LA." Auburn and Lewiston are divided only by the picturesque Androscoggin river and together comprise the 2nd largest metropolitan area of Maine. Auburn had a population of 23,690 at the 2000 census.
After a lengthy legal battle over ownership of the land, Auburn was first settled in 1786 as part of the settlement of Minot. It was set apart and incorporated in 1842 and the name is said to be inspired by Oliver Goldsmith's 1770 poem, The Deserted Village.
"Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain,
Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain,
Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid,
And parting summer's lingering blooms delayed:
Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease,
Seats of my youth, when every sport could please,
How often have I loitered o'er thy green,
Where humble happiness endeared each scene;"
Excerpt from The Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith (1770)
In 1917 Auburn became the first city in Maine to adopt the now widely used council-manager form of government. Originally an agricultural town, Auburn developed into a mill town with the construction of the bridge to Lewiston, the arrival of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad, and the availability of water power from falls on the Androscoggin and Little Androscoggin rivers.
Shoe manufacturing became the dominant industry by the late 1800s although there were also mills manufacturing cotton, woolen textiles, carriages, iron goods, bricks, and furniture. By 1917 one Auburn factory produced 75% of the world's supply of white canvas shoes.
After WWII the industry began to decline and now the mill buildings are in the process of being renovated for other purposes. The factories attracted many French Canadian immigrants from Quebec and the population grew steadily to about 1960 and it is still not uncommon to hear French spoken in the area. Auburn and Lewiston are also known as the Twin Cities.
Due to its central location between Augusta and Portland, rolling and picturesque scenery, job growth, schools, and abundance of stately older homes, Auburn still draws many newcomers and Mainers alike. It is truly the "hub" of the area as the new city slogan states.
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