 Auburn, California, established in 1848 is located northeast of Sacramento and southwest of Lake Tahoe on Interstate 80, Auburn is filled with the historical reminders of California's gold rush days. Auburn is one of California's earliest mining towns, situated in the heart of the Gold Country and county seat of Placer County.
The town is nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range at a comfortable 1,300 feet elevation. Auburn is situated on the edge of the Auburn State Recreation Area and overlooks the beautiful American River Canyon which offers an abundance of outdoor recreational activities.
During the Gold Rush in May of 1848, a miner was taking a short cut and discovered gold in the Auburn Ravine. Auburn then became a shipping and supply center of hundreds of gold camps.
Placer County took its name from the Spanish word for sand or gravel deposits containing gold. Miners washed away the gravel, leaving the heavier gold, in a process known as "placer mining." Gold mining was a major industry through the 1880s, but gradually the new residents turned to farming the fertile foothill soil, harvesting timber and working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. |
