Toomer's Corner

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Toomer's Corner is located at the intersection of Magnolia Avenue and College Street, and marks the division of downtown Auburn, Alabama, and the campus of Auburn University itself.^[1] Toomer's Corner consists of two landmarks, the Bank of Auburn and Toomer's Drugs Pharmacy, the latter of which, at one time, was the only place in the city with a telegraph machine.^[2][3]

The employees at Toomer's Drugs, after discovering that Auburn had won a football game, would throw the ticker tape onto the power lines to signify so.^[3] The area's primary source of popularity comes from an Auburn tradition that arose over a century ago and has not ceased over the years in bringing people nearby to the landmark.^[4]

History and tradition[]

A night for celebration on Toomer's Corner

Toomer's Corner gets its name from a businessman and former State Senator Sheldon Toomer, who happened to be a halfback for Auburn's first football team.^[5] Toomer founded Toomer's Drugs in 1896, which was started with a $500 loan from John Reese, and Toomer later founded the Bank of Auburn on the corner of Magnolia Avenue and College Street in 1907.^[4] The pharmacy was later sold in 1952 by Toomer to Mac and Elizabeth Lipscomb, who chose against renaming the pharmacy. In 1962 Auburn fans and students began to celebrate away games by covering the power lines outside of the pharmacy and the trees directly opposite with toilet paper.^[4] There is much controversy over when "rolling the corner" became a celebration for all things Auburn. It is theorized by David Housel that it truly began in 1972 when Auburn's football team won a victory against rival Alabama.^[5]

The rolling of the corner was initially set off by the employees that worked at Toomer's Drugs pharmacy using an inventive way to signal a victory for Auburn while playing away games; they would throw the ticker tape from the telegraph onto the power lines outside of the store.^[6][3] In 1984, the drug store was sold to Mark Morgan.^[6] Five years after the selling of the store to Morgan, the Iron Bowl made its first stop in Auburn and was one of the first times Toomer's Corner was covered with endless rolls of toilet paper.^[6] The store has been resold a couple of times in the 1990s but the tradition that Toomer's Corner sparked has remained. The power lines have since been relocated under the ground but Auburn's tradition of rolling the trees never slowed.^[7] As of 2019, Toomer's Corner continues to bring fans, residents, and even visitors of Auburn around the historic corner.

Vandalism[]

Toomer's Corner after the poisoned trees had been removed and the area placed under 24-hour surveillance

Toomer's Drugs pharmacy on Toomer's Corner.

The oak trees used to celebrate have been vandalized on multiple occasions. In 2010 the trees were poisoned using a herbicide called Spike 80DF. Two months later the perpetrator later called the Paul Finebaum sports radio talk show on January 27, 2011, to confess his actions, which were presumed to have been driven by Alabama's loss the previous week in the Iron Bowl against the Auburn Tigers in 2010.^[8][9][10] The phone call was tracked and the perpetrator, Harvey Updyke was arrested. Updyke, formerly of Dadeville, Ala., was sentenced to pay a fine and spend time in jail, after which time he would be placed on probation.^[11][12] After the trees were poisoned, efforts were made to save the trees but were unsuccessful. The corner was eventually restored with untainted soil and replanted with two new fully grown southern live oak trees.^[9][13] While the soil and trees were replaced, people were restricted from rolling the trees with paper until they acclimated to their environment.^[14][15]

In 2016, the trees were replaced a second time after they were set on fire by Jochen Wiest following Auburn’s win over Louisiana State University.^[16] Attempts had been made to save the trees, but it was decided that the trees were unlikely to survive.^[17][18] The other tree that borders College Street was not affected by the vandalism via fire but had failed to grow properly for unknown reasons. In February 2017, two fully grown trees were planted to replace the tree that had failed and the tree that had been lit ablaze.^[19]

References[]