Auburn is an unincorporated community in Weld County, Colorado, United States, five miles southeast of Downtown Greeley.[3]
In the 1960s, Auburn was a farming community with no general stores and no post office.[4] 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.[3]
On December 14, 1961, Union Pacific's "City of Denver" passenger train collided with a school bus, killing twenty children who were on board.[3] Sixteen children and the driver survived. The crash was the deadliest traffic accident in Colorado history.[5]
Education
The Auburn area is now within Weld County School District Six. As of 2008, residents are zoned to Bella Romero Academy of Applied Technology K-3 (formerly East Memorial Elementary, named for the school bus tragedy)[6] Bella Romero 4-8 Elementary School east of Greeley at the site of the former Delta Elementary School,[7] Heath Middle School in Greeley,[8] and Greeley West High School in Greeley.[9]
For many years, Auburn had a school district and a school at the northeast corner of Weld County Roads 47 and 54. 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.[3][10] During that year children were assigned to Delta Elementary School, Meeker Junior High School, and Greeley High School.[3] The Auburn and Delta schools no longer exist.[11]
See also
- Front Range Urban Corridor
- Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area
- List of populated places in Colorado
References
- ^ a b "Colorado Counties". Colorado Department of Local Affairs. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
- ^ a b "Auburn, Colorado". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 2.
- ^ Bauer, William H.; Ozment, James L.; Willard, John H. (1990). Colorado Post Offices 1859–1989. Golden, Colorado: Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation. ISBN 0-918654-42-4.
- ^ "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 5.
- ^ "Welcome / 1961 Bus Accident and East Memorial". greeleyschools.org. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
- ^ "District 6 Elementary School Boundaries Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine." Weld County School District Six. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
- ^ "District 6 Middle School Boundaries Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine." Weld County School District Six. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
- ^ "District 6 High School Boundaries Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine." Weld County School District Six. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
- ^ "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 4.
- ^ "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 15.