Toomsboro, Georgia

Toomsboro is a town in Wilkinson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 383 in 2020.

Toomsboro, Georgia
Town
Location in Wilkinson County and the state of Georgia
Coordinates: 32°49′32″N 83°5′0″W
Country	United States
State	Georgia
County	Wilkinson
Area [1]
• Total	1.86 sq mi (4.82 km2)
• Land	1.86 sq mi (4.82 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	233 ft (71 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	383
• Density	205.69/sq mi (79.43/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	31090
Area code	478
FIPS code	13-76952[2]
GNIS feature ID	0324226[3]

History

Toomsboro was founded when the Central of Georgia Railway was extended to that point. Its railroad terminal was built in 1869.^[4]

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.^[5][6]

The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Toomsboro as a town in 1904.^[7] The community is named for 18th-century Georgia politician Robert Toombs.^[8]

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.^[9] They suggested a movie production company might be interested in using Toomsboro as a film set.^[10] 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".^[11] 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".^[12][13] The Freedom Georgia Initiative promotes the new community as Freedom, Georgia.^[9]

Geography

Toomsboro is located at 32°49′32″N 83°5′0″W (32.825423, -83.083196).^[14] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.9 square miles (4.9 km²), all land.

Demographics

Historical population

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[15] 1850-1870[16] 1870-1880[17] 1890-1910[18] 1920-1930[19] 1940[20] 1950[21] 1960[22] 1970[23] 1980[24] 1990[25] 2000[26] 2010[27] 2020[28]

Toomsboro, Georgia – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000[29]	Pop 2010[27]	Pop 2020[28]	% 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 Multiracial (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^[2] of 2000, there were 622 people, 209 households, and 146 families residing in the town. In 2020, its population was 383.