If you’ve ever played the game of telephone, you know how word of mouth can twist things in funny ways, including the name of a town. We explore how the foothill town of Auberry got its unusual name, today on KVPR’s Central Valley Roots.
Located northeast of Clovis, Auberry is nestled in a quiet foothill valley, beneath the ridgeline you ascend on the way to Shaver and Huntington Lakes. The community began in the late 1870s, made up of ranchers and loggers.
Things began to change in the early part of the 20th century when the San Joaquin and Eastern Railroad came to town. A project of Henry Huntington’s Pacific Power and Light Company, the railroad was built to aid the Big Creek hydroelectric project. They even founded a new town, just north of the original, and named it New Auberry. While the railroad closed in the Great Depression you can still find SJ&E Road today.
Now about the name – it turns out Auberry is a corruption of the name Yarbrough, the name of an early settler in area. Through word of mouth, the name got twisted to Yah-bury and Au-bury. Then in 1876 when locals organized a school district, the name was formalized as Auberry. As for an even older name, the Auberry band of Mono Indians, who have lived here for centuries, used the name unaħpaahtyħ.
