Auburn is a city in DeKalb County, Indiana, United States. The population was 13,820 at the 2020 census. Founded in 1836 by Wesley Park (1811–1868), the city is the county seat of DeKalb County. Auburn is also called Home of the Classics.

Auburn’s site on Cedar Creek was fixed by Wesley Park and John Badlam Howe at the intersection of two major trails, Goshen-Defiance Road and Coldwater Road, and next to the estate of John Houlton. The make known for the community likely came from “The Deserted Village” by Oliver Goldsmith, that begins “Sweet Auburn! Loveliest village of the plain.” The plat of the Village of Auburn is dated April 21, 1836, but it was held by Howe and not recorded until March 12, 1879. John Drury purchased the first lot (Lot 73) for $25.00 on September 5, 1837. The first buildup was built at Park’s corners by Thomas Freeman, applying for a license upon March 5, 1838, and bringing supplies by horseback from Fort Wayne. Daniel Altenburg, Levi Walsworth, the Sherlock family, Samuel Sprott, David Weave, David Shoemaker, Henry Curtis, Lyman Childsey, James Cosper, and David Cosper were prematurely residents.

A name office was conventional in 1839. In 1841, malaria ran through the town, and in 1843 a terrible storm wreaked havoc on cabins and crops. The Church of God was built by the Presbyterians in 1846. The Village of Auburn was incorporated in 1849, divided into wards, and governed under a town board and constable. By the fall of the American Civil War, the town included over 700 inhabitants. The storm of September 29, 1872, destroyed Odd Fellow’s Hall and damaged the Methodist Episcopal church. A few months later (April 6, 1873), the new brick block of Seventh Street (Snyder’s Building) collapsed, also destroying the Ensley Building. Auburn water and lights was build up in 1898. The fine-tune in status to the City of Auburn upon March 26, 1900, followed a referendum. Notable citizen Charles Eckhart erected a public library and a YMCA building.

The Auburn Automobile Company founded in 1900 produced its first automobile in 1903. William Wrigley, Jr. and Errett Lobban Cord controlled interests in the company that eventually acquired Duesenberg, Lexington, and Lycoming Engines, and started Cord Car Company. The company fruitless in August 1937. Other makes of cars built in Auburn tote up Black, de soto (Not De Soto by Chrysler), IMP, Kiblinger, McIntyre and Zimmerman.