100 years ago, 1917
H. W. Getchell, better known in Auburn as “Bert,” and Harry W. Bumpus have dissolved partnership in the firm of Bumpus & Getchell at Auburn, where they have been in the drug business at the corner of Court and Main streets for 14 years. Mr. Bumpus plans to continue in the business and is making some changes in the store and business itself. The change is said to have come about very suddenly but in the form of a friendly dissolution.

50 years ago, 1967
State highway department crews have started work in Auburn on a preliminary engineering survey of the proposed Union Street by-pass route, City Manager Woodbury E. Brackett said Thursday. The Union Street by-pass route has been recommended in two traffic surveys of the Twin Cities with an estimated price tag of $1,017,000. The proposed by-pass route would start on Minot Avenue just southerly of Court Street and would terminate on Center Street in the vicinity of Whitney Street, crossing Union Street gully where a considerable amount of fill is indicated.

25 years ago, 1992
An Auburn resident’s concern about how a new composting facility will affect traffic on Penley Corner Road this winter led city councilors Monday to request a report on how the road will be maintained. John Jaques of 170 Penley Corner Road asked the councilors at their regular meeting if the sludge composting facility under construction by the Lewiston-Auburn Water Pollution Control Authority would be finished before the road is improved. “My understanding was the grading, widening and improved site access were to be done prior to the opening of the compost facility,” Jaques said. The $7 million facility is expected to open in December or January, but the road improvements are not scheduled until next spring.

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be corrected.