Before European settlement, the land that is now Auburn was inhabited by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The area was opened to settlement following the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832. In 1836, John J. Harper, a judge and planter from Georgia, founded the town, famously naming it "Auburn" after a line in Oliver Goldsmith's poem *The Deserted Village*: "Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain."
Auburn's trajectory changed forever in 1856 with the establishment of the East Alabama Male College, a Methodist institution. During the American Civil War, the college closed its doors to classes and served as a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers. Following the war, the institution struggled financially until 1872, when it was transferred to the state and became the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama under the Morrill Act, securing its status as a land-grant university. It was eventually renamed Auburn University in 1960.
The 20th century saw Auburn transition from a quiet rural village into a bustling educational and commercial hub. The post-World War II era brought the G.I. Bill, causing university enrollment to surge and permanently altering the city's scale. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, aggressive economic development initiatives attracted advanced manufacturing and international businesses, particularly those supplying the automotive industry, ensuring Auburn's economy would thrive beyond the bounds of the university campus.