Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs offers a dynamic record of the buildings that once stood in Auburn, Alabama, which have fallen to natural disaster, war, poverty, and neglect, and to what some would call progress. More than two hundred photographs of lost buildings give three historians the opportunity to relate stories of those who once worshipped, learned, and lived in Auburn. Together, these photographs and the accompanying text vividly convey the uniqueness of the village of Auburn that was.

Lost Auburn is more than just a document about the lost architectural fabric of a charming village. It is both a volume of insightful commentary and an opportunity to reflect on the role of community in the life of a Southern town.

Auburn University's history comes alive in Lost Auburn.

—David Ingram, Auburn Plainsman

The authors' affectionate regard for their hometown is unmistakable in a book that manages to instruct while bringing people and places to life again. Lost Auburn also reminds us of how we shape our built environments and are in turn shaped by them.

—Robert S. Gamble, senior architectural historian, Alabama Historical Commission

Lost Auburn is a unique history of the town and university which describes in loving specificity the many people and places that make Auburn special. Sadly, the book also details the loss of the very characteristics that created Auburn’s original sense of place, and questions why we must 'lose them to appreciate their worth.'

—Dan Bennett, Dean Emeritus, Auburn University College of Architecture

A thought-provoking book that graphically illustrates how incremental change, over a period of many years, can significantly alter a community's sense of place. Communities can use this book as a template to record their architectural treasures that have been lost to fire, nature, neglect, or, simply, poor planning.

—Doug Purcell, Executive Director Emeritus, Historic Chattahoochee Commission

A perfect blend of scholarship, humor, and insightful musings about the evolution and spirit of a place.

—Alice Bowsher, author of Alabama Architecture: Looking at Building and Place and Community in Alabama: Architecture for Living Together

Though the past can’t be physically brought back, visual and written reminders such as those collected here can bring back sweet, sometimes sad, memories. Both are valuable to the psyche. I’m sure readers now and in the future will join me in thanks to the authors and publisher of Lost Auburn. I love this book!

—Mary Ward Brown, author of Tongues of Flame and It Wasn't All Dancing

About the Author/Editor

Ralph B. Draughon Jr. (Author)
RALPH B. DRAUGHON, JR. serves on the Alabama Historical Commission and the board of directors of the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation. A PhD in southern history from the University of North Carolina, he taught at the University of Georgia, established a research center at Stratford Hall (Robert E. Lee’s birthplace in Virginia), served as curator at the Historic New Orleans Collection, and acted as historical advisor to a major national archeological firm.

Delos Hughes (Author)
DELOS HUGHES is a native of Auburn, Alabama. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He taught political philosophy at Washington and Lee University from 1963 until his retirement in 1996. As Emeritus Professor of Politics, he researches architectural history subjects. Hughes has published studies of courthouses in Alabama, Virginia, and South Carolina; a New Deal homesteads project in Tennessee; and an early effort to design buildings for the University of Alabama. He is a co-author of Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs, published by NewSouth Books in 2012, and Historic Alabama Courthouses: A Century of Their Images and Stories, published by NewSouth Books in 2017.

Ann Pearson (Author)
As long-time president of the Auburn Heritage Foundation, ANN PEARSON led the successful effort to move the imperiled Nunn-Winston house to safety, and she directed the rescue from neglect of both the white and black cemeteries of early Auburn. She has earned an MA in English from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a PhD in English from Auburn University. She serves on the board of the Historic Chattahoochee Foundation and received the Alabama Historical Commission’s prestigious Roy Swayze Aware for the careful restoration of her own historic plantation, Noble Hall. She is the author of many articles about local history and historic preservation, as well as three mystery novels.

Lost Auburn

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Lost Auburn

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