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'Auburn' is a city in and the county seat of Androscoggin County, Maine, USA. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Metropolitan New England City and Town Area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area (which is part of the Portland-Lewiston-South Portland, Maine Combined Statistical Area).

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Government

Sites of interest

External links

History

Auburn is situated on the Androscoggin River, across from its twin city, Lewiston, and named for a Yorkshire village. It was settled in 1786. In 1828 a bridge first linked Auburn with Lewiston. Incorporated as a town in 1842, Auburn became a city in 1868. Auburn was originally a part of Cumberland County but became a part of Androscoggin County in 1854. By annexing land from towns around it, including part of Poland in 1852, Minot in 1873, and all of Danville in 1867, Auburn grew geographically into one of Maine's largest municipalities. It was the first city in the state to adopt a council-manager form of government, in 1917.
Auburn's population in 1860 was only about 4,000 but by 1890 it was about 12,000. Steady population growth continued to about 1960 when the population was about 24,500.
Like Lewiston, Auburn thrived as a mill town in the 19th century, with its shoe factories attracting many French Canadian settlers. The factory system of shoe manufacture originated here in 1835.

Geography

Auburn is located at (44.089173, -70.241437). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 170.4 km² (65.8 mi²). 154.8 km² (59.8 mi²) of it is land and 15.6 km² (6.0 mi²) of it (9.13%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 23,203 people, 9,764 households, and 5,907 families residing in the city. The population density was 149.9/km² (388.1/mi²). There were 10,608 housing units at an average density of 68.5/km² (177.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.04% White, 0.59% African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.10% from other races, and 1.32% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.73% of the population.

There were 9,764 households out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.9% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,652, and the median income for a family was $44,012. Males had a median income of $32,088 versus $22,349 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,942. About 9.0% of families and 12.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.6% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Auburn is in Maine's 2nd US Congressional District, Maine Senate District 15, and Maine House of Representatives Districts 68, 69, and 70.
Auburn is divided up into five wards. The city's governing body is a City Council, consisting of a Mayor and 7 councilmembers (one from each of the five wards, and two elected at large).

Sites of interest

★ Androscoggin Historical Society [1] features artifacts of local history, Civil War memorabilia, farming tools and a bird collection

★ Auburn Fire Department Museum -- a collection of antique fire equipment from the city

★ Knight House Museum (1796) -- the oldest frame house downtown, with a pre-1835 handwork shoe-shop

External links

★ City of Auburn, Maine ''Official Website''

★ Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce

★ L/A Arts