Toomer's Corner
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Toomer's Corner is a street corner located at the intersection of Magnolia Avenue and College Street, and marks the northeastern-most reach of the campus of
Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...
, and the beginning of downtown
Auburn, Alabama Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama. The population was 76,143 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Auburn metropolitan area, Alabama, Aubu ...
. Two landmarks are located on Toomer's Corner, the Bank of Auburn (now a branch of
PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 U.S. state, states and the District of Columbia, ...
) and Toomer's Drugs
Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
, which was the first establishment in the city with a
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
, and the intersection is patterned in bricks forming the paw print logo of the
Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...
athletic teams (it was formerly painted on regular concrete). The employees at Toomer's Drugs Pharmacy, after discovering that Auburn had won a football game before the team broadcast away games on radio, would throw the
ticker tape Ticker tape was the earliest electrical dedicated financial communications medium, transmitting stock price information over electrical telegraph, telegraph lines, in use from around 1870 to 1970. It consisted of a paper strip that ran through ...
from their telegraph onto the power lines. 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.


History and tradition

Toomer's Corner is named after businessman and former State Senator Sheldon Toomer, a former halfback for the first Auburn squad in 1892. Toomer founded Toomer's Drugs in 1896 with a $500 loan from John Reese, and later founded the Bank of Auburn on the corner of Magnolia Avenue and College Street in 1907. In 1952, Toomer sold the pharmacy to Mac and Elizabeth Lipscomb, who elected not to rename it. In 1962 Auburn fans and students began to celebrate the games by covering the power lines outside the pharmacy and the trees directly opposite with
toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet/bath/bathroom tissue, or toilet roll) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the human anus, anus and surrounding region of Human feces, feces (after defecation), and to clean the external gen ...
. There is much controversy over when "rolling the corner" became a celebration for all things Auburn. It is theorized by David Housel that it began in 1972 when #9 Auburn scored an upset in the
Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn University Tigers, both charter members of the Southeastern Conf ...
against #2
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
, a game remembered by the title " Punt Bama Punt". Initially, the rolling of the corner was sparked by the employees of Toomer's Drugs pharmacy. They used an inventive method to signal Auburn's victory during away games by throwing ticker tape from their telegraph onto power lines outside the store. In 1984, the drug store was sold to Mark Morgan. Five years after the store was sold to Morgan, the
Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn University Tigers, both charter members of the Southeastern Conf ...
made its first stop in Auburn and was one of the first times Toomer's Corner was covered with endless rolls of toilet paper. The store was 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 on the southeast part of the corner never slowed. As of 2019, Toomer's Corner continues to bring fans, residents, and even visitors of Auburn around the historic corner.


Vandalism

The oak trees have been vandalized on multiple occasions. In 2010, the trees were poisoned using a herbicide called Spike 80DF. Two months later, on January 27, 2011, the perpetrator called the
Paul Finebaum Paul Finebaum (born July 26, 1955) is an American sports author, former columnist, and television-radio personality. His primary focus is sports in the Southeast United States. After Finebaum spent many years as a reporter, columnist, and spor ...
sports radio talk show to confess the actions, which were presumed to have been driven by Alabama's loss the previous week in the
Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn University Tigers, both charter members of the Southeastern Conf ...
against Auburn in 2010. The phone call was tracked and the perpetrator, Harvey Updyke, was arrested. Updyke, formerly of Dadeville, Alabama, was sentenced to pay a fine and spend time in jail, after which time he was placed on probation. Efforts to save the poisoned trees were unsuccessful. The corner was eventually restored with untainted soil and replanted with two new grown southern live oaks. While the soil and trees were replaced, people were restricted from rolling the trees with paper until they acclimated to their environment. 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 Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
. Attempts were made to save the trees, but the trees were determined unlikely to survive. The other tree bordering College Street was not affected by the 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.


References

{{Reflist Auburn, Alabama Streets in Alabama