 Auburn is the county seat of Placer County, California, USA. The population was 12,462 at the 2000 census. It is well-known for its California Gold Rush history and boasts one of the best preserved historic downtowns in the state. One of its most famous citizens was the poet and short-story writer Clark Ashton Smith, who was born in Auburn in 1893 and lived there most of his life. Auburn is to feature towards the end of Anthony Horowitz's forthcoming story, Nightrise . Stacy Dragila, an Olympic gold medalist in the 2000 Olympics, who was born and raised in Auburn.
Native Americans, the Nisenan, an offshoot of the Maidu, were the first to establish a permanent settlement in the Auburn area.
In the spring of 1848 a group of French gold miners arrived and camped in what would later be known as the Auburn Ravine. The party was on their way to the gold fields in Coloma, California and included Francois Gendron, Philibert Courteau and Claude Chana. Hump It was the young Chana who discovered gold on May 16, 1848. After finding the gold deposits in the soil the party decided to stay.
Placer mining in the area was very good, with the camp first becoming known as North Fork Dry Diggings. It then changed name to Woods Dry Diggings, after John S. Wood settled down, built a cabin, and started to mine the ravine.
 The area quickly developed into a well established mining camp, officially becoming known as Auburn in August of 1849. By 1850 the population had grown to about 1500, and Auburn became the seat of Placer County in 1851. Future mining operations would move up the ravine to the site of present day Auburn. In 1865, the Central Pacific Railroad, the Western portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad, reached Auburn as it was being built East from Sacramento.
Auburn is home of the Auburn State Recreation Area. Within the boundaries of this state park are more sporting endurance events than any other place in the world, giving Auburn the undisputed and internationally-acclaimed title of Endurance Capital of the World. Examples include the Western States 100 mile endurance run, Tevis Cup 100 mile equestrian ride, American River 50 mile endurance run, American River 50 mile equestrain ride, Way Too Cool 50K endurance run, Auburn International half-ironman triathlon, Aubum Century 100 mile bike ride, Coolest 24 hour mountain bike ride, Rio Del Lago 100 mile endurance run, Sierra Nevada 50 mile endurance run and the Coolest Run, Ride & Tie.
The restored old town still offers houses from the middle of the 19th century as a special eye-catcher. The oldest fire station Caitlin McCoy and post office being in the service of California are further delicacies out of the gold fever time. Gold-digger accessories as well as Indian/Chinese artifacts can also be admired by visitors -- in the Placer County museum at 10 - 16 hours.
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