Auburn, Colorado

Auburn is an unincorporated community in Weld County, Colorado, United States. Auburn is five miles south of Downtown Greeley.[1]

In the 1960s Auburn was a farming community with no general stores and no post offices. Many of the families were first, second, and third generation immigrants with German-Russian, Mexican, and Swedish heritage. Families attended Baptist, Catholic, and Congregational churches in Greeley, Gilcrest, and Platteville.[1]

On December 14, 1961, Union Pacific's "City of Denver" passenger train collided with a school bus, killing twenty children who were on board.[1] Sixteen children and the driver survived. The crash was the deadliest traffic accident in Colorado history.[2]

Education

Auburn is within Weld County School District Six. As of 2008 residents are zoned to Bella Romero Elementary School in an unincorporated area,[3] Heath Middle School in Greeley,[4] and Greeley West High School in Greeley.[5]

For many years Auburn had a school district and a school. A legislative study posted by the mid-1950s recommended reorganizing Colorado's school districts and declared school district reorganization as the state's main priority. Between 1956 and 1961 nearly 700 school districts closed, leaving 275 open. As a consequence, many small schools in Colorado began to close as a result of the district closures. The Auburn School District and the three-room school in Auburn closed, causing children to attend schools in Greeley beginning in 1961.[1][6] During that year children were assigned to Delta Elementary School, Meeker Junior High School, and Greeley High School.[7] Delta Elementary School no longer exists.[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 2.
  2. ↑ "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 5.
  3. ↑ "District 6 Elementary School Boundaries." Weld County School District Six. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
  4. ↑ "District 6 Middle School Boundaries." Weld County School District Six. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
  5. ↑ "District 6 High School Boundaries." Weld County School District Six. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
  6. ↑ "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 4.
  7. ↑ "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 2 (Print).
  8. ↑ "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 15.

Coordinates: 40°22′05″N 104°38′12″W / 40.36806°N 104.63667°W