Auburn, New York, USA
1854 - Auburn

Auburn, a beautiful city, capital of Cayuga county. New York, on the line of railroad connecting Albany and Buffalo, 174 miles W. from the former, and 162 miles E. from the latter. It is 2 1/ 2 miles N. by W. from Owasco lake, the outlet of which flows through the town. Lat. 42° 68' N., Ion. 76° 40* W. The site of this town is somewhat uneven, and the streets present some deviations from a rectangular plan. They are generally wide, well shaded, and furnished with good sidewalks. The city on the whole is very handsomely built, and adorned with beautiful gardens, as well as with ornamental shrubs and trees. The principal public buildings and mercantile houses are on Genesee street. They are mostly built of brick or stone, and have 3 or 4 stories. Auburn is the seat of a theological seminary, founded in 1821, under the direction of the Presbyterians, with a library of 6000 volumes. The whole number educated in this institution is 580. It contains 8 churches, vii. 2 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopalian, 1 Methodist, 1 Baptist, 1 Universalist, 1 Second Advent, and 1 Roman Catholic, the Auburn Academy, 8 banks, and 6 or 7 newspaper offices. The Auburn State Prison has acquired much celebrity for its peculiar system of prison discipline. The building is a large and costly stone structure, enclosed by a wall, which measures 500 feet on each side, and about 30 feet in height. The number of convicts sometimes amounts to more than 600. They are employed in a variety of manufactures, the annual proceeds of which are generally sufficient, it is said, to defray the expenses of the establishment. The Auburn Academy has from 76 to 100 students, and is furnished with good apparatus and cabinets of natural history. There are 5 public free-schools, all in a flourishing condition. The principal hotels are the American, the Auburn House, and the Western Exchange. The Owasco outlet furnishes extensive water-power, which is employed in the town or its immediate vicinity, in manufactories of cotton, wool, carpets, iron, and paper, and in mills of various kinds. A railroad is in course of construction from Auburn to Ithaca, a distance of 40 miles. Population, in 1850, 9548 1853, about 10,500.

A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.

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