Toomsboro, Georgia
History
Toomsboro was founded when the Central of Georgia Railway was extended to that point. Its railroad terminal was built in 1869.
On August 30, 1871, Matthew Deason, a white man, and an African American woman who was possibly his wife, Serena Dul Cat C. Johnson (Georgia Marriages 1699–1944 in Wilkinson County Georgia) were lynched in Toomsboro by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Deason, a former Confederate soldier, was the elected sheriff of Wilkinson County. It was the first documented lynching of a black woman in Georgia after the Civil War.
The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Toomsboro as a town in 1904. The community is named for 18th-century Georgia politician Robert Toombs.
Freedom, Georgia
David Bumgardner, a developer who bought properties at auction, intended to turn the property he owned into a quaint tourist destination. In April 2012, Bumgardner and Bill Lucado, who also owned property, announced they were seeking a buyer for the properties by advertising "Toomsboro for sale" although the existing community of Toomsboro maintains its own identity. They suggested a movie production company might be interested in using Toomsboro as a film set. In September 2018, 36 pieces of property over 40 acres (16 ha) went up for sale for an asking price of $1.7 million, with an eye toward a preservation-minded buyer "who appreciates its history". In the aftermath of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in 2020, 19 families cooperatively bought 96.71 acres (39.14 ha) of land in Toomsboro to establish a Black community "where all Black people feel safe without fear of being murdered for who they are". The Freedom Georgia Initiative promotes the new community as Freedom, Georgia.
Geography
Toomsboro is located at 32°49′32″N 83°5′0″W / 32.82556°N 83.08333°W (32.825423, -83.083196). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.9 square miles (4.9 km), all land.
Demographics
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 183 | — | |
| 1900 | 50 | — | |
| 1910 | 404 | 708.0% | |
| 1920 | 420 | 4.0% | |
| 1930 | 665 | 58.3% | |
| 1940 | 593 | −10.8% | |
| 1950 | 711 | 19.9% | |
| 1960 | 764 | 7.5% | |
| 1970 | 682 | −10.7% | |
| 1980 | 673 | −1.3% | |
| 1990 | 617 | −8.3% | |
| 2000 | 622 | 0.8% | |
| 2010 | 472 | −24.1% | |
| 2020 | 383 | −18.9% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census 1850-1870 1870-1880 1890-1910 1920-1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 | |||
| Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2000 | Pop 2010 | Pop 2020 | % 2000 | % 2010 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 280 | 233 | 208 | 45.02% | 49.36% | 54.31% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 334 | 223 | 145 | 53.70% | 47.25% | 37.86% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.00% | 0.21% | 0.78% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.16% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH) | 2 | 10 | 14 | 0.32% | 2.12% | 3.66% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 5 | 5 | 13 | 0.80% | 1.06% | 3.39% |
| Total | 622 | 472 | 383 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the census of 2000, there were 622 people, 209 households, and 146 families residing in the town. In 2020, its population was 383.