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==History== The area was originally part of the Pejepscot Purchase, land bought in 1714 by an association of people from [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] and [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire|Portsmouth]] following the [[Treaty of Portsmouth (1713)|Treaty of Portsmouth]], which brought peace between the [[Abenaki]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]] and the settlers of present-day Maine. In 1736, however, the [[Massachusetts General Court]] granted a large section of the land to veterans of the 1690 [[Battle of Quebec (1690)|Battle of Quebec]]. Conflicting claims led to prolonged litigation; consequently, settlement was delayed until after the [[French and Indian Wars]].<ref name=Coolidge>{{Cite book | last = Coolidge | first = Austin J.| author2 = John B. Mansfield | title = A History and Description of New England| publisher = A.J. Coolidge | year = 1859| location = Boston, Massachusetts| pages = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ/page/n65 36]β38| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859. }}</ref> Auburn was first settled in 1786 as part of Bakerstown, renamed [[Poland, Maine|Poland]] when it was incorporated by the [[Massachusetts General Court]] in 1795. It was then part of [[Minot, Maine|Minot]], formed from parts of Poland and incorporated in 1802. Auburn would itself be formed from parts of Minot and incorporated on February 24, 1842. The name was apparently inspired by "Auburn", a village (real or fictitious) featured in the 1770 poem "[[The Deserted Village]]" by [[Oliver Goldsmith]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3aQgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FWkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1463%2C5719635 | title=Some Maine town names | work=The Lewiston Daily Sun | date=Jun 13, 1928 | access-date=17 October 2015 | author=Yates, Edgar A.P. | pages=4}}</ref> Originally part of [[Cumberland County, Maine|Cumberland County]], the town became [[county seat]] of [[Androscoggin County]] at its creation in 1854. By annexing land from towns around it, including part of [[Poland, Maine|Poland]] in 1852, Minot in 1873, and all of Danville (first called Pejepscot) in 1867, Auburn grew geographically into one of Maine's largest municipalities. Incorporated as a city on February 22, 1869,<ref name=AuburnPD>{{cite web|url= http://auburnmaine.gov/CMSContent/Police/Auburn%20(ME)%20PD%202016%20revised%209-26-16.pdf |title= Auburn (ME) Police Department Assessment Report |access-date= 2018-06-26}}</ref> Auburn in 1917 would be the first city in the state to adopt a [[council-manager government|council-manager]] form of government.<ref name="Coolidge"/> Farms supplied grain and produce, but with construction of the bridge across the river to Lewiston in 1823, and especially after arrival of the [[Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad]] from [[Portland, Maine|Portland]] in January 1848, the community developed into a mill town. Mills were built to operate by water power from falls on the [[Androscoggin River]] and [[Little Androscoggin River]]. In 1835, the factory system of shoe manufacture originated at Auburn. Other firms manufactured cotton and woolen textiles, carriages, iron goods, bricks and furniture. The population in 1860 was only about 4,000 but by 1890 it had tripled to 12,000 as a result of its shoe factories attracting many [[French Canadian]] immigrants, many of whom arrived by train from [[Quebec]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://history.rays-place.com//me/auburn.htm|title=Historical Sketch of Auburn, Maine|access-date=8 March 2016|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170504183703/http://history.rays-place.com/me/auburn.htm|archive-date=4 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Steady population growth continued until around 1960, plateauing at roughly 24,500.<ref name="Auburn Historical Highlights">[http://www.auburnmaine.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7BF3A6DDCB-9C70-426E-851B-22501666185D%7D Auburn Historical Highlights] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904162748/http://www.auburnmaine.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7BF3A6DDCB-9C70-426E-851B-22501666185D%7D |date=September 4, 2011 }}</ref> In Auburn, shoe manufacturing became the dominant industry by the late 19th century. The City Seal, depicting a spindle with different types of shoes at each outside point, with the adopted latin motto ''Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum'' (loosely translated as "No Backward Steps"), was designed when Auburn was positioning itself as the shoe manufacturing center of Maine in the mid-19th century. In 1917, one factory in Auburn was producing 75 percent of the world's supply of white canvas shoes; however, after [[World War II]] the shoe industry began to decline, and between 1957 and 1961 the largest manufacturers closed their factories.<ref name="Auburn Historical Highlights"/> The area became noted in 1985 due to the plane crash that took the life of [[Samantha Smith]]. In 2023, [[Joe Biden]] became the first sitting [[President of the United States|United States president]] to visit Auburn in 111 years, with the previous being [[William Howard Taft]] in 1912.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Journal |first=Steve CollinsSun |date=2023-07-26 |title=Biden will be first sitting president to visit Auburn since 1912 |url=https://www.sunjournal.com/2023/07/26/biden-will-be-first-sitting-president-to-visit-auburn-since-1912/ |access-date=2023-07-28 |website=Lewiston Sun Journal}}</ref> ===Lewiston-Auburn Shoe Strike=== {{Main|Lewiston-Auburn Shoe Strike}} In 1937, one of the largest labor disputes in Maine history occurred in Lewiston and Auburn. The [[Lewiston-Auburn Shoe Strike]] lasted from March to June and at its peak involved 4,000 to 5,000 workers on strike. After workers attempted to march across the Androscoggin River from Lewiston to Auburn, Governor [[Lewis Barrows]] sent in the [[Maine Army National Guard]]. Some labor leaders, CIO Secretary [[Powers Hapgood]], were imprisoned for months after a [[Maine Supreme Judicial Court]] judge issued an injunction seeking to end the strike. <gallery> Main Street, Auburn, ME.jpg|Main Street {{circa|1912}} Bobbin Mill Brook, East Auburn, ME.jpg|Old mill {{circa|1910}} Goff Block, Court Street, Auburn, ME.jpg|Court Street {{circa|1912}} High Street, Auburn, ME.jpg|High Street in 1907 </gallery>
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