School Locations
Updated 02/16/2021
If you were attempting to physically locate every school building which once served Auburn, you could easily become frustrated with your lack of progress. Only one of the many schools which were once situated in the Auburn borough remains in recognizable condition. One fell into disrepair and was eventually torn down to its foundation. Others caught fire and were demolished. Still others were given "face lifts" with the exteriors (and interiors) altered to such an extent they would be difficult to recognize without assistance. Auburn had its fair share of educational structures and below you will find a chronological list of those buildings along with pictures of many of these sites. Also included is an map of Auburn which pinpoints the sites of those school houses or educational institutions.
|
NOTE: If you have any historic information and/or pictures that are relevant to this webpage topic, please share it with us by submitting the material using the "Visitors Input" button below. Thank you!
1. Bethel Church Meeting House - This was the first formal educational gathering place for children in the area of Auburn. Constructed in 1845 and 1846, classes were conducted in the basement of the church. Previously located just north of Mill Street and just west of Bear Creek Street, the structure was eventually abandoned around 1872 and eventually fell into ruin. The ruins were then razed to the ground.
2. St. John's Church - Located just northwest of the intersection of Second and Pearson Streets (between Second and Third Streets). School classes were transferred from the Bethel Church to this location in 1859 and continued until 1862. St. John's Church is still in existence and holds scheduled worship services. 3. First actual school building - Upon deciding the town needed a dedicated structure for a school building, a two story brick building was erected in 1862 at the corner of First (Front) and Forest Streets. This structure was abandoned by the school and later served as a tie factory before eventually being consumed by fire. 4. Second school building - Constructed around 1878, this two story wooden structure was located on the northern side of Pine Street between Second and Third Streets. The reason for this new building was due to an increased student population. This structure still exists and is presently the site of the Auburn VFW. After the VFW obtained the structure, the building's exterior was bricked over using bricks from the Auburn Shale Brick Company. 5. First Supplemental School Building - As classes continued to grow, the need for additional space became evident. A quaint gabled wooden supplemental school building was constructed just west of the actual school building in the area which is now the VFW parking lot. This building served as a secondary school for a relatively short period of time until the structure was eventually destroyed by an arson fire set by a disgruntled student in 1909. 6. Second Supplemental School Building - In 1926, seventeen years after the initial supplemental school building was destroyed by arson, a second "temporary" supplemental school building was installed. This structure was a "modern" pre-fabricated building. The sections were shipped to the site and simply had to be bolted together. When the building was no longer utilized by the school system, it was purchased privately, disassembled, relocated and then reassembled at the northwest corner of the intersection of Fourth Street and Liberty Alley (the alley between Market and Washington Streets). That reassembled and remodeled structure still exists today. 7. The Auburn High School - This modern and spacious building was constructed in 1931 just east of Fifth Street between Pearson Street and Orchard Street. For over fifty years this structure served the community until it was destroyed by fire in 1983 and subsequently demolished. At this time, a decision was made to incorporate Auburn students into the Blue Mountain School District rather than rebuild the school. This was the final educational institution built and utilized in the town of Auburn, PA. |
|