Town file
Auburn, Indiana
Auburn, Indiana (DeKalb County, Indiana) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 226, "Satan's Carnival" (3 June 2021). In the early 1990s a small group of young carnival workers in central Indiana convinced themselves they were Satanists.
- Town
- Auburn
- County
- DeKalb County
- State
- Indiana
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 226
- Approximate location
- 41.368, -85.057
Episode 226 / 3 June 2021 / 169 min / full
Satan's Carnival
"It's in northeastern Indiana, all the way near the Ohio border... it's into DeKalb County, area code 260" about 0:05:25
The case: Murder of Andrew Wright (August 30, 1991); Murder of Tony Alt (September 26, 1991). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2021
- Population
- 13,004
- Median age
- about 40
- Median household income
- about $47,000
- Median home value
- $136,600
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $715
- Cost of living
- 76
- Religious
- 41%
- Property crime
- ▼ just under the national average
- Violent crime
- ▼ about one third
History, in brief
- In 1841 malaria ran through the town. about 0:07:03
- In 1843 a storm destroyed the cabins and crops and wiped out life in the settlement. about 0:07:22
- The town incorporated a few years later, after the malaria and the storm. about 0:07:34
- By the end of the Civil War the town had about seven hundred people. about 0:08:31
- In 1872 another storm destroyed the Odd Fellows Hall and the Methodist Episcopal Church. about 0:08:39
- A few months after the 1872 storm the new brick block of buildings collapsed entirely. about 0:09:09
- The Auburn Automobile Company was founded in 1900 and produced its first car in 1903. about 0:09:56
- E. L. Cord controlled the company, which acquired Duesenberg and Lexington, and started the Cord car company. about 0:10:04
- The Auburn Automobile Company failed in 1937. about 0:10:26
- The Auburn Rubber Company started in 1913 as the Double Fabric Tire Company, became a maker of rubber toys and left in 1959. about 0:10:38
- John Dillinger and his accomplices robbed the Auburn police station on October 14, 1933, taking a submachine gun, two steel vests, three rifles, six pistols and over a thousand rounds of ammunition. about 0:11:16
- The city logo is based on the former Auburn Automobile Company logo. about 0:11:34
- The town motto is 'home of the classics', which the website completes with 'because everyone else has left'. about 0:06:13
The reviews read out
5 stars
"Born at the hospital in Auburn and still living five minutes from it at 23; a small town where everyone knows everyone, with an amazing community that came together in 2016 when the town lost more teenagers than normal, mostly in car accidents."about 0:11:47
3 stars
"Several ethnic restaurants (Mongolian, Chinese, Greek and authentic Italian), plus the usual fast food and chain places; the specialty restaurants are awesome and offer 'quinine and drink'."about 0:12:49
3 stars
"Most people in this area are farmers and most are friendly and church goers."about 0:13:24
1 star
"Kathy B writes that she is two miles from the concert and can hear it like it is in her backyard; she has two babies trying to sleep, called the police, and notes it goes on until 11 p.m. with another hour and a half of nonsense. 'Auburn is the worst!'"about 0:21:01
1 star
"Christin Draper writes that the damn car show is annoying her and her one-year-old trying to sleep, tells them to keep their obnoxious bad music to themselves and to use earbuds."about 0:22:07
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Coldwater, Michigan40 miles
- Delta, Ohio56 miles
- Marion, Indiana65 miles
- Peru, Indiana68 miles
- Kalamazoo Township, Michigan68 miles
- Jackson, Michigan69 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.