Auburn Hills

Sister cities

• Saltillo

History

In 1821, Auburn Hills began as Pontiac Township which included the village of Auburn at what is today the corner of Auburn and Squirrel roads. Situated on the Clinton River, it was named by Aaron Webster, the first settler, for Auburn, New York. His sawmill and grist mill attracted settlers to Auburn. After the streets were laid out in 1826, Auburn rivaled nearby Pontiac until the 1860s, when it lost its own prosperity. The town was renamed Amy in 1880, and it officially became Auburn Heights in 1919. Pontiac Township bordered the city of Pontiac on two sides. In 1908, automobile pioneer John Dodge bought a farmhouse northeast of Auburn Heights to use as his country retreat. He and his wife, Matilda Dodge Wilson, continued to buy farmland, eventually totaling 1,400 acres. Dodge died in 1920, and Matilda Dodge later married lumber baron Alfred Gaston Wilson, with whom she built one of America's castles, Meadow Brook Hall, on a portion of the estate in present day Rochester Hills at a cost of $4 million ($ million in ). In 1957, Matilda Dodge Wilson donated her land to Michigan State University, leading to the creation of Oakland University. Today, it is known as the Auburn Hills Civic Center. The first recorded use of the name "Auburn Hills," in 1964, was by Oakland Community College. They named their campus (a former Nike missile base) at Featherstone and Squirrel roads for the town of Auburn and the hilly terrain in the area. The township attempted to incorporate as Pontiac Heights in 1971, but was denied by state officials. Pontiac Township became a charter township in 1978, to protect itself from further annexation. In 1983, Pontiac Township merged with the village of Auburn Heights to become the City of Auburn Hills. It is not to be confused with the…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.24%) is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  24,871
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  24,535
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,999
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  23,931
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  19,754
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,934
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  18,014
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  17,800

Largest nearby schools

• Lighthouse Connections Academy
  Other · TROY · 2,454 students · 30.7:1 ratio
• Lake Orion Community High School
  High · LAKE ORION · 2,174 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Troy High School
  High · Troy · 2,094 students · 18.7:1 ratio
• Rochester High School
  High · ROCHESTER HILLS · 1,690 students · 22.8:1 ratio
• West Bloomfield High School
  High · WEST BLOOMFIELD · 1,652 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• Bloomfield Hills High School
  High · Bloomfield Hills · 1,598 students · 15.5:1 ratio
• Clarkston High School
  High · CLARKSTON · 1,575 students · 19.9:1 ratio
• Athens High School
  High · Troy · 1,545 students · 17.8:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2026-05-04
  8 km N of Maybee, Michigan
• M 3 — 2026-04-26
  7 km SSE of Amherstburg, Canada
• M 2.5 — 2022-05-23
  2 km NNW of Corunna, Canada
• M 3.2 — 2020-08-21
  2 km SSE of Detroit Beach, Michigan
• M 3.4 — 2018-04-20
  Michigan
• M 2.6 — 2017-05-14
  18 km ENE of Leamington, Canada