Auburn is located in South King County, and has a population of around 70,000. Mostly rural and residential, Auburn does have its own quaint downtown area as well as a number of retail thoroughfares. The Muckleshoot Indian Reservation is located within Auburn's city limits, and provides local entertainment. Local neighborhoods in Auburn include River's Bend, Christopher/Thomas, Lea Hill, Hazelwood, West Valley, West Hill, Terminal Park, Forest Villa, Lakeland Hills, and Hidden Valley. The Auburn Boeing Plant is a major employer in the area and the largest airplane parts plant in the world.

Auburn, Washington

Auburn is a city in King County, with a small portion in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 70,180 at the 2010 United States Census. Auburn is a suburb in the Seattle metropolitan area, currently ranked the fifteenth largest city in the state of Washington.

Auburn is bordered by the cities of Federal Way, Pacific, and Algona to the west, Sumner to the south, Kent to the north, and unincorporated King County to the east. The Muckleshoot Indian Reservation is in or near the southern city limits.

Downtown Auburn, seen from the train station's parking garage

History

The first non-indigenous settlers in the Green River Valley arrived in the 1850s, but were temporarily driven out by Indian wars later that decade. Several settler families returned in the 1860s, including Levi Ballard, who set up a homestead between the Green and White rivers. Ballard filed for a plat to establish a town in February 1886, naming it Slaughter for an officer slain during the Indian wars in 1855.

Slaughter was incorporated on June 13, 1891, but its name was changed two years later to Auburn on February 21, 1893, by an action of the state legislature. Newer residents had disliked the name and its connection to the word "slaughter", especially after the town's hotel was named the Slaughter House. The name Auburn was chosen in honor of Auburn, New York, for the area's shared reliance on hops farming.

The White and Green Rivers have been a major part of the history and culture of Auburn since the area was settled with multiple locations in the city being named after either of the two rivers. Frequent flooding from the rivers caused numerous problems for the people living in the community with one outcome being the creation of Mountain View Cemetery over on one of the hills overlooking the valley. It was not until the completion of the Mud Mountain Dam and the Howard A. Hanson Dam, along the White River and Green River respectively, that the flooding would cease and allow the city to grow without the aforementioned hurdle impeding the growth.

In 1917 the city, in response to the growing of the Japanese community, donated some of the land in Pioneer Cemetery to the White River Buddhist Church. A little over ten years later, Rev. Giryo Takemura, minister of the church at the time, and his future son-in-law, Chiyokichi Natsuhara, raised money to replace the old wooden sticks and columns that had been in use as gravestones at the Cemetery with more durable concrete markers. The interwar period saw several Japanese-American baseball teams from the area compete in the courier league with the White River All-Stars enjoying particularly large success winning four of the July 4th tournaments. In 1930 a Japanese bath house was constructed outside of Neely Mansion by the then current tenants.

The onset of the Second World War saw the Japanese-American community of Auburn become seen with largely unwarranted distrust by many of the white residents of Auburn. This, combined with a larger countrywide Japanese focused xenophobia, led to the city's Japanese-American population being relocated to internment camps. After the war, of about 300 Japanese families living in Auburn only around twenty five returned.

In 2008, Auburn annexed the West Hill and Lea Hill neighborhoods of unincorporated King County, adding 15,000 residents and expanding its land area by 26 percent.

Neely Mansion, spring of 2006

Geography and climate

Auburn is located at 47°18′8″N 122°12′53″W (47.302322, −122.214779).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 29.89 square miles (77.41 km2), of which, 29.62 square miles (76.72 km2) is land and 0.27 square miles (0.70 km2) is water.

Two rivers, the White River and, to a greater extent, the Green River flow through Auburn.

Historically, the Stuck River ran through the settlement of Stuck, which is now a small pocket of unincorporated King County within southern Auburn. In 1906, the flow of the White River was diverted into the Stuck's channel near today's Game Farm Park. References to the Stuck River still appear in some property legal descriptions and place names, e.g. Stuck River Drive, within Auburn, but today it is essentially indistinguishable from the southern White River.

Parks

Auburn has an extensive system of parks, open space and urban trails consisting of 28 developed parks, over 23 mi (37 km) of trails (including Auburn's 4.5 mi (7.2 km) portion of the Interurban Trail for bikers, walkers, runners and skaters), and almost 247 acres (100 ha) of open space for passive and active recreation.

Mount Rainier seen from Auburn's Centennial Viewpoint Park on West Hill

Transportation

Auburn has many large roads nearby and within city limits, including State Route 167 (commonly referred as the "Valley Freeway") and State Route 18. Auburn also has its own transit center, Auburn station in downtown, that serves as a major hub for southern King County. Sound Transit buses connect the Auburn Transit Center directly to the Federal Way, Sumner, and Kent, while King County Metro buses connect the Transit Center to Green River Community College, the Super Mall, and Auburn Way.

Sounder commuter trains travel from Auburn to Downtown Seattle in approximately 30 minutes, and to Lakewood station in less than 35 minutes.

Until 1987 Auburn was also the home for a steam locomotive roundhouse and diesel engine house of the Northern Pacific Railway, the BNSF Railway of today. BNSF maintains a rail yard and small car repair facility, along with maintenance-of-way facilities at the former NP yard. The Auburn Municipal Airport serves the general aviation community.

Auburn station in downtown is a major hub for the Green River Valley.

Neighborhoods

• Downtown—Historic buildings with a Main Street USA appearance, also many Craftsman-style houses from the 1920s.
• North Auburn—A mix of commercial and single-family housing separated by Auburn Way North.
• River's Bend—A small residential neighborhood nestled along the Green River, located at the bottom of Lea Hill in North Auburn.
• Christopher/Thomas—An area in North Auburn roughly bordered by the Valley Drive Inn and 227th Street. Both are former farming towns annexed into the city in the 1960s.
• Lea Hill—A mainly residential neighborhood east of the valley, annexed into the city in 2007. Green River Community College is located here.
• Hazelwood—The area on Lea Hill between Green River Community College, and Auburn Mountainview High School. Once a town in the late nineteenth century.
• West Valley—A commercial and industrial area on the west side of SR 167, located on the bottom of West Hill.
• West Hill—Located on the West Hill, bordered by the city of Federal Way to the west.
• South Auburn—A general area located south of downtown, once a low-income area but becoming a commercial zone.
• Terminal Park—An area of middle class housing near the end of the rail yard named for the railroad workers who lived there.
• Forest Villa—Mainly residential area located in the Game Farm Park area.
• Lakeland Hills—A master-planned community sprawling on a large hillside at the southern end of the city on both sides of King and Pierce counties.
• Hidden Valley—A planned development located East of Lakeland Hills overlooking North Lake Tapps.
• Muckleshoot Area—The general area of the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation.

Auburn City Hall, 2007

Economy

As of 2017 there are 60,118 jobs in Auburn and a 4.1% unemployment rate.

The Auburn Boeing Plant, opened in 1966, is the largest airplane parts plant in the world, with 2,100,000 square feet (200,000 m2) and 1.265 million parts being manufactured each year. With over 5,000 employees, the Boeing plant is the third major employer in Auburn.

According to Auburn's 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Welcome sign on West Hill

Recreation and entertainment

Auburn has an extensive system of parks, open space and urban trails: 28 developed parks, over 23 mi (37 km) of trails (including Auburn's 4.5 mi (7.2 km) portion of the Inter-urban Trail for bikers, walkers, runners and skaters), and almost 247 acres (100 ha) of open space for passive and active recreation.

The Outlet Collection Seattle, formerly SuperMall of the Great Northwest, is an outlet mall which opened in 1995.

Emerald Downs is a 167-acre (0.68 km2) six-level stadium and thoroughbred racetrack. The racetrack is operated on land purchased by the Muckleshoot in 2002.

The White River Valley Museum's exhibits feature Auburn, from Native American history to the 1920s. They focus on the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, pioneer life, immigration from Europe and Japan, truck farming, railroading and the building of towns throughout the area. Visitors can visit a recreation of a pioneer cabin, climb aboard a Northern Pacific Railway caboose, and investigate a recreation of the shops in 1924 downtown Auburn.

The White River Amphitheater is a 20,000-seat venue, located about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) east of the city limits.

Education

Currently the Auburn School District has 15 elementary schools, four middle schools and three high schools, making 22 schools in all. The district is larger than the city itself, serving the neighboring towns of Algona and Pacific, as well as some unincorporated areas around Auburn and Kent.

Green River College also resides in Auburn, atop Lea Hill.

Auburn Senior High founded in 1903.

Middle schools 6–8

• Cascade Middle School is located in North Auburn, and has a student population of 750. Its mission statement is "Spartan Excellence: Everyone, Everyday, Everywhere." The school's mascot is the Spartan.
• Mt. Baker Middle School is located in the southwest region of Auburn. It has about 1,000 students.
• Olympic Middle School is located in South Auburn and has about 700 students. It is currently being rebuilt.
• Rainier Middle School is on Lea Hill and has about 1000 students. The school's mascot is the panther.

Elementary schools K-5

• Alpac Elementary School is located in Pacific, Washington . It was opened in 1973 and named for the cities of Algona and Pacific. Originally an open classroom concept school, it converted to standard classroom ideals in 1983.
• Arthur Jacobsen Elementary School opened in 2007, on the former Jacobsen Tree farm and on the lower portion of Auburn Mountainview's campus. It is the youngest school in the district.
• Chinook Elementary School opened in 1963 and was named for the nearby White River Fish Hatchery. It is located on the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation.
• Dick Scobee Elementary School opened in 1959 as North Auburn Elementary and was renamed for the astronaut and Auburn High School graduate who died as commander of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
• Evergreen Heights Elementary School opened in 1970, located on the West Hill of Auburn.
• Gildo Rey Elementary School opened in 1969 under the name of South Auburn Elementary. It was renamed in 1976 in honor of longtime faculty member Gildo Rey.
• Rainier Christian Schools – Kent View  in Auburn opened on September 1, 2005 after buying the property from Thomas Academy. The campus also houses Little People Pre-School.
• Hazelwood Elementary School opened in 1990 on Auburn's Lea Hill.
• Ilalko Elementary School opened in 1992. It is named after a Native American village; "Ilalko" means "striped water."
• Lakeland Hills Elementary School, Auburn's largest elementary school, opened in the Lakeland Hills community in 2006. It outperformed the state and district in the new SBA assessment and MSP Science Assessment.
• Lake View Elementary School opened in 1980.
• Lea Hill Elementary School opened in 1965 as one of only 11 schools in the United States designated as a National Educational landmark by the National Park Service.
• Pioneer Elementary School opened in 1950.
• Terminal Park Elementary School opened in 1945. It was named for the terminal end of the railroad and the neighborhood where the rail workers lived, Terminal Park.
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• Washington Elementary School is the oldest elementary school in Auburn. It is located next to Auburn High School. It originally opened in 1920, and was demolished and re-built in 1970.

Auburn's newest comprehensive high school, Auburn Mountainview, opened in 2005.

City landmarks

The City of Auburn has designated the following landmarks:

Auburn Masonic Temple , 302–310 E. Main Street

Auburn Post Office, 20 Auburn Avenue NE

Auburn Public Library, 306 Auburn Avenue NE

Source Wikipedia