Auburn, New York

Auburn
—  City  —
Downtown Auburn
Nickname(s): Prison City
Auburn
Location within the state of New York
Coordinates:
Country United States
State New York
County Cayuga
Incorporated 1815 (village)
1848 (city)
Government
 • Type Council-Manager
 • Mayor Michael D Quill Sr(D)
 • City Manager Mark Palesh
 • City Council
Area
 • Total 8.4 sq mi (21.8 km2)
 • Land 8.4 sq mi (21.7 km2)
 • Water 0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation 686 ft (209 m)
Population (2000)
 • Total 27,687
 • Density 3,321.3/sq mi (1,282.4/km2)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes 13021, 13022, 13024
Area code(s) 315
FIPS code 36-03078
GNIS feature ID 0942692

Auburn (Áhsku·’[1] in Tuscarora) is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 27,687. It is the county seat of Cayuga County[2].

Auburn is home to the Auburn Doubledays minor league baseball team, which is owned by the Auburn Community Owned Non-Profit Baseball Association, Inc.

The only daily newspaper published in Auburn is The Citizen.

Contents

History

Early history

The site was called Ahsku by the Tuscarora, an Iroquoian American Indian people who inhabited the area after being pushed to the north by tribes in the Southeast. The region had been Iroquois territory for centuries before European contact and historical records.

Auburn was founded in 1793 by European-Americans, in the post-Revolutionary period of settlement of western New York. The founder John L. Hardenbergh was a veteran of the American Revolution who, like many other migrants, came to the area for the chance of land. He was buried in Auburn's Fort Hill Cemetery. The community grew up around Hardenbergh's gristmill and sawmill.[3]

Originally known as Hardenbergh's Corners in the town of Aurelius, the settlement was renamed Auburn in 1805 when it became the county seat. Auburn became an incorporated village in 1815, and was chartered as a city in 1848. It was only a few miles from the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825 and allowed local factories to inexpensively ship goods north or south. In 1871, the Southern Central Railroad, financed by the Lehigh Valley Railroad, completed a line primarily to carry coal from Athens, Pennsylvania through Auburn to wharves on Lake Ontario at Fair Haven.[4]

From 1818 to 1939, Auburn was home to Auburn Theological Seminary, once one of the preeminent theological seminaries in the United States. In 1939, facing financial difficulties as a result of the Great Depression, the Auburn Theological Seminary moved to the campus of Union Theological Seminary in New York City. The only building from the Auburn Theological Seminary that stands today is Willard Memorial Chapel on Nelson Street, designed by Andrew Jackson Warner (1833–1910) of Rochester, with stained-glass windows and interior decoration by Louis C. Tiffany. It is the only complete, unaltered Tiffany chapel known to exist, although much of the original paint work on walls and organ pipes has been painted over so the rich colour and decoration have gone.

A number of properties in Auburn are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are the Auburn Button Works and Logan Silk Mills, Belt-Gaskin House, Case Memorial-Seymour Library, Cayuga County Courthouse and Clerk's Office, Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, William and Mary Hosmer House, St. Peter's Episcopal Church Complex, Sand Beach Church, Schines Auburn Theatre, Thompson AME Zion Church, Harriet Tubman Grave, Harriet Tubman House, Old Post Office and Courthouse, Wall Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and Dr. Sylvester Willard Mansion. The William H. Seward House and Willard Memorial Chapel-Welch Memorial Hall are National Historic Landmarks. The South Street Area Historic District is a national historic district.[5]

Auburn prison (Auburn Correctional Facility)

In 1816, Auburn Prison (now Auburn Correctional Facility) was founded as a model for the contemporary ideas about treating prisoners, known now as the Auburn System. Visitors were charged a fee for viewing the facility and its inmates. On August 6, 1890, the first execution by the electric chair was carried out at Auburn Prison. In 1901, Leon Czolgosz, assassin of President William McKinley, was executed at Auburn Prison. A riot occurred when the Prisoners rebelled against their Officers, taking many hostage. Although the ideas of the Auburn System have been abandoned, the prison continues to serve as a maximum security facility. Auburn Correctional Facility is one of the most secure prisons in the continental U.S.

Geography

Auburn is located at (42.931660, -76.564770)[6]. The city is located north of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.4 square miles (22 km2), of which, 8.4 square miles (22 km2) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) of it (0.47%) is water.

Owasco Outlet is a stream flowing northward through the city.

US 20 is an important east-west highway passing through the city, and New York State Route 34 and New York State Route 38 are north-south highways that intersect US-20 in Auburn.

Demographics

Historical populations
Year Pop. ±%
1800
1810
1820
1830
1840 5,626
1850 9,548 +69.7%
1860 10,986 +15.1%
1870 17,225 +56.8%
1880 21,924 +27.3%
1890 25,858 +17.9%
1900 30,345 +17.4%
1910 34,668 +14.2%
1920 36,192 +4.4%
1930 36,652 +1.3%
1940 35,753 −2.5%
1950 36,722 +2.7%
1960 35,249 −4.0%
1970 34,319 −2.6%
1980
1990 31,258
2000 28,574 −8.6%
2010 27,687 −3.1%
sources:[9]

As of the census[10] of 2000, there were 28,574 people, 11,411 households, and 6,538 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,405.3 people per square mile (1,315.0/km²). There were 12,637 housing units at an average density of 1,506.0 per square mile (581.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.57% White, 7.59% African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.41% from other races, and 1.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.82% of the population.

There were 11,411 households out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.3% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% were non-families. 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,281, and the median income for a family was $41,169. Males had a median income of $32,349 versus $23,330 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,083. About 12.5% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.9% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Auburn Enlarged City School District is the public school system serving Auburn. It currently operates eight schools from K–12. The West Middle School was closed over the summer of 2011. To save funds they combined West and East Middle schools.

The only college in Auburn is Cayuga Community College, a two-year school. C.C.C., as it is known locally, is located on Franklin Street in Auburn.

Sports

Professional baseball

Auburn has had a long association with professional baseball:

National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues

In late 1901, Auburn was chosen as the site of the first office of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL), which is now known simply as Minor League Baseball and based in St. Petersburg, FL.

Auburn Community Baseball

Auburn Community Baseball, which is owned by the City of Auburn, is the parent organization of the Auburn Doubledays and its predecessor Auburn entries in the Class A New York-Penn League dating back to 1958. The team plays its home games at Leo Pinckney Field at Falcon Park.

The Great Race

Since 1978, on the second Sunday of every August, Auburn hosts The Great Race, a three- or four-person relay race involving running, cycling, and canoeing (or kayaking). The race begins and ends in the area of Owasco Lake on the outskirts of Auburn. With between 2,000 and 2,500 people participating in an average year, it is one of the largest relay races in the United States.

Notable natives and residents

Business and inventors

Government, politics and law

Military

Sports, arts and entertainment

Other

References

External links