Auburn, Colorado

Auburn was an unincorporated community in Weld County, Colorado, United States, five miles southeast of Downtown Greeley.[1]

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

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

1. "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 2.
2. "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 5.
3. "Welcome / 1961 Bus Accident and East Memorial" Check |url= value (help). http. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
4. "District 6 Elementary School Boundaries Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine." Weld County School District Six. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
5. "District 6 Middle School Boundaries Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine." Weld County School District Six. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
6. "District 6 High School Boundaries Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine." Weld County School District Six. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
7. "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 4.
8. "The Crossing: Six Degrees." Rocky Mountain News. Tuesday January 23, 2007. 15.