Shopfront beginnings

The Salvation Army was opened in Auburn on 6 September 1891 by Major William Horskins. The first commanding Salvation Army officers were Captain Quail and Lieutenant Taylor. The first meeting was held in a shop on the corner of Edgar Street and Gordon Road, but by 1914 the Salvos in Auburn had their own citadel in Mary Street, which was opened on 22 March by Commissioner William McKenzie (or “Fighting Mac” of World War One chaplaincy fame.) By the 1970s, the corps (church) in Auburn had outgrown its hall and a new suite of buildings was constructed on the site to accommodate Sunday worship services as well as the numerous activities and ministries taking place during the week. This sufficed until 2014 when The Salvation Army opened a new multi-purpose building on the current site in South Parade to house Auburn Corps as well as The Salvation Army’s Greater West divisional headquarters.