The area was first inhabited by members of
the Nipmuc tribe. The native people called the region Quinsigamond and built a
settlement on Pakachoag Hill in Auburn. In 1673 English settlers John Eliot and
Daniel Gookin lead an expedition to Quinsigamond to establish a new Christian
Indian “praying town” and identify a new location for an English settlement. On
July 13, 1674, Gookin obtained a deed to eight square miles of land in
Quinsigamond from the Nipmuc people and English traders and settlers began to
inhabit the region.
