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Auburn, Colorado

In the 1960s, Auburn was a farming community with no general stores and no post office. 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.^[1]

On December 14, 1961, Union Pacific's "City of Denver" passenger train collided with a school bus, killing twenty children who were on board.^[1] Sixteen children and the driver survived. The crash was the deadliest traffic accident in Colorado history.^[2]

Education[edit]

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)^[3] Bella Romero 4-8 Elementary School east of Greeley at the site of the former Delta Elementary School,^[4] Heath Middle School in Greeley,^[5] and Greeley West High School in Greeley.^[6]

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.^[1][7] During that year children were assigned to Delta Elementary School, Meeker Junior High School, and Greeley High School.^[1] The Auburn and Delta schools no longer exist.^[8]

References[edit]

40°22′05″N 104°38′12″W / 40.36806°N 104.63667°W / 40.36806; -104.63667