Town of Auburn

Auburn is made up of lands which were, in colonial times, outlying parts of Worcester, Leicester, Sutton and Oxford. These areas were incorporated as the town of Ward on April 10, 1778. In 1837, the name was changed to Auburn, at the request of the Post Office due to confusion with the nearby town of Ware.

The first of Dr. Robert Goddard's liquid propelled rockets was fired on Pakachoag Hill in 1926 in the field on Effe Ward’s farm. Dr. Goddard is considered the father of modern rocketry.

Some notable residents of Auburn include Paul Allaire, former CEO of Xerox Corp., biologist Jacob Whitman Bailey, who is noted for his improvements to the microscope, and professional baseball player Tyler Beede.