City of Auburn King County, Washington

Name: City of Auburn
Address: Washington

Mapped Location

City of Auburn: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

Information

General information on City of Auburn

Feature Type: Incorporated

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for City of Auburn

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name	Description
City of Auburn	Official
Auburn	Official

Origin Notes and History of City of Auburn

References to City of Auburn that document the origin of its place name

AUBURN, a city in King County. Dr. Levi W. Ballard, in 1886, laid off part of his claim as a townsite and called it "Slaughter" in honor of Lieutenant W. A. Slaughter, United States Army, who lost his life there during the Indian war of 1855-1856. On the completion of the railroad the town grew rapidly and in 1893 petitioned the Legislature to change its name to Auburn. One of the agitators for the change of name told a group of legislators that it was discouraging for the hotel boy to shout to passengers leaving the train: "Right this way to the Slaughter House !" For all that, the gallant lieutenant deserves an enduring monument.

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names

Meany, Edmond S., Origin of Washington Geographic Names, 1923 University of Washington, pp 10-11 | Origin of Washington Geographic Names

A Selected Bibliography of City of Auburn, King County, Washington

A compilation of essential readings detailing the history, geography, and culture of the region.

Auburn--a look down Main Street by Josephine Emmons Vine

Josephine Emmons Vine’s Auburn—a look down Main Street chronicles the civic and commercial evolution of the fertile Green and White River valleys in southern King County, Washington. Centered around the strategic railway corridors and agricultural floodplains of early Auburn, the narrative details how foundational pioneer families and immigrant farmers cooperatively built a thriving agrarian hub out of the surrounding wilderness. By tracing the rapid structural and social development along the town's central commercial artery, the text reveals how scattered frontier homesteads transitioned into a highly interconnected civic center sustained by shared merchant networks and tight-knit kinship bonds. Ultimately, this local history documents how collaboratively navigating the seasonal rhythms of the river basin established the enduring community structures and deeply rooted family lineages that define the modern city.

xi, 124 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 28 cm

Non-circulating [ 1 ]

History · 1st ed · Auburn Centennial Commission and City of Auburn, Auburn, Wash., 1990
Related Catalog Items: City of Auburn · King County

King County

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2017-02-12