Auburn: an automotive history and a surge of new residents.

Auburn's affair with the automobile started in the early 1900s. Since then, its passion for classic cars has lured thousands of visitors to the area.

Today, though, tourists aren't the only ones flocking to Auburn, a town off of Interstate 69 and State Road 8, 25 miles north of Fort Wayne. So, too, is an unprecedented number of new residents as Auburn faces extraordinary residential growth that's sparked a housing boom.

According to Mayor Norman Rohm, for the past six years Auburn has set a record for new construction that's expected to grow into the next century. Since 1992, the county seat of DeKalb County has added 1,359 acres to its limits. In addition, industrial growth in Auburn has increased by 14 percent, commercial growth by 3 percent and residential growth by 76 percent.

The top five employers in Auburn include Cooper Engineered Products, a division of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., which makes rubber products for the automotive industry and employs 900. Auburn Foundry produces gray iron castings and employs 800. Guardian Industries, manufacturer of laminated and tempered auto glass, employs approximately 700. Eaton Corp., formerly Dana, which employs 620, produces metal stampings and light and heavy-duty clutches for the automotive industry. Finally, Rieke Corp. makes drum and pail closures and employs 330.

Cooper Engineered Products made headlines this past year when it added a 72,000-square-foot tech center, increasing the number of employees by 175. "Cooper is a showcase for the entire community," says Robert Zimmerman, executive director of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce.

Almost four years ago, Auburn Foundry added a second plant totaling 164,356 square feet. Today, 221 employees work in the second plant. Throughout 1995, the company also made additional expansions to its first plant.

Guardian Industries also added 51,400 square feet to its plant in 1996. A few months later, it added yet another 4,330 square feet.

As Auburn continues to grow, expansions of existing companies aren't likely to slow down. "Auburn's employee pool is growing, not shrinking," says Steve Daley, owner of Classic City Advertising in Auburn and a member of Auburn's chamber board. "With more people moving in than moving out, our existing employers can undergo expansions."

Thanks to the influx of new residents, housing additions also have been on the rise. This past year, for example, ground was broken for Bridgewater Community and Golf Club, a 441-home development that will feature an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, swimming pool, clubhouse, reception hall and restaurant. Other developments include Auburn Hills with 114 lots, Pheasant Run with 105 lots and Auburn Meadows with 77 lots.

Homes are occupied not only by people who work in Auburn but in Fort Wayne as well. "Auburn is a bedroom community for Fort Wayne," Zimmerman says.

The city is also evaluating ways to manage the increased flow of traffic through Auburn, which Daley calls Auburn's biggest disadvantage right now. "The traffic is nothing compared to other places," he says, "but for Auburn, it's becoming congested."

Auburn, however, hasn't always experienced such booming times. In the early 1900s, when the Auburn Automobile Co. was a national giant, Auburn's economy revolved around the automotive industry. When Auburns, Cords and Duesenbergs stopped rolling off the assembly lines in the 1930s, though, the northeast Indiana town was stunned.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Auburn Automobile Co. produced the sporty Auburn and the innovative, front-drive Cord. The company's Indianapolis division built the Duesenberg, often called America's finest motorcar.

In 1929, the small town of Auburn introduced the country to its first front-drive production car, the L-29 Cord. The Duesenberg Model J, the most luxurious and powerful motorcar ever created, was also rolled out at the same time. While the rest of the country was suffering from the Great Depression, Auburn's automotive enterprise seemed virtually unharmed until 1937. At that point, sales of luxury cars plummeted so much that the Auburn Automobile Co. was forced to close, crushing Auburn's economy.

Today, those classic cars are honored at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum. The museum opened in 1974 in the original auto factory showroom and administrative building of the Auburn Automobile Co. Since its opening, the museum has attracted more than one million people from all 50 states and 60 foreign countries, says Gregg Buttermore, director of marketing for the museum. About 80,000 people visit the museum every year.

More than 100 antique, classic and special-interest cars in eight different galleries fill two floors of the museum. As Buttermore says, "We try to be interpretive about our exhibits and tell a story about the cars." Along with the Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg, visitors discover classic Packard, Cadillac, Rolls Royce, Mercedes Benz, Lincoln and Stutz automobiles.

Through the end of January, visitors can see a special exhibit that features two 1935 Duesenberg Supercharged Roadsters owned by Clark Gable and Gary Cooper. Starting in February 1999 and running through May, the special exhibit will feature Packards, in honor of the cat's centennial anniversary.

Every year, Auburn also celebrates its classic car heritage during Labor Day when thousands of people trek to the Home of the Classics for the week-long Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Festival. The festival is held in conjunction with the Kruse International Auburn collector car auction, the largest of its kind in the world.

This year, an estimated 300,000 people attended the festival. Cars for sale at the 1998 auction included the Batmobile, which was featured in the movie "Batman Forever," and the 1962 Ford ambulance that carried Lee Harvey Oswald to Parkland Hospital in Dallas after Jack Ruby shot him.

In the near future, residents of Auburn will be able to enjoy Rieke Park on the north side of town. This 64-acre park, Auburn's largest, will feature ball diamonds, a pond for ice skating and fishing, a picnic area, hiking and jogging trails, batting cages and a large playground. Construction on Rieke Park is scheduled to begin in the spring of 1999 and be completed by the end of 2000. There are 14 other properties in Auburn's Parks Department.

Children in Auburn attend one of two elementary schools, DeKalb Middle School and DeKalb High School. Lakewood Park Christian School, located in a large natural setting, offers private elementary and secondary education.

Overall, residents of Auburn say its way of life can't be duplicated easily. "People who move here tell me they've never lived in a nicer place," Rohm says.

Daley agrees, saying, "If you come here and get to know the people, you'll wish you lived here, too."