NSWRail & telegraph
Auburn (NSW)
A railway platform and the subdivision beside it made a suburb.
1877Railway station opens at Auburn
WHAT STARTED IT
The Sydney–Parramatta railway ran through this stretch of Parramatta Road farmland from 1855, but there was no stop until a station opened in 1877. John Yelverton Mills subdivided land beside the platform and named the new township Auburn, after the village in Oliver Goldsmith’s poem ‘The Deserted Village’.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
In 1880, when residents asked for a postal service at the platform, an inspector counted about 40 houses and 200 people. Railway engineering then took hold: Henry Vale & Co moved its locomotive works to Auburn around 1884, and Ritchie Brothers, near the station, employed 500 men by 1911. The Borough of Auburn was proclaimed in February 1892, and Auburn and Lidcombe councils merged in 1949.
TURNING POINTS
1877A railway station opens on the Parramatta line, starting the growth of Auburn.
1878The Township of Auburn subdivision is released on 1 June.
1880A postal inspector reports about 40 residences and 200 people near the platform.
1884Henry Vale & Co move their rolling-stock works to Auburn; by 1888 they have built 42 engines.
1892The Borough of Auburn is proclaimed on 19 February, and George Wright is elected its first mayor in April.
1949Auburn and Lidcombe councils merge into a new Auburn Municipal Council.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A busy shopping and residential centre in Cumberland City. In 2021 the largest overseas-born groups were from China and Nepal, and Turkey was also among the top birthplaces.