"Rolling" Toomer's Corner

Toomer's Corner, at its most basic, is the intersection of College Street and Magnolia Avenue in the City of Auburn. But more importantly for tradition's sake, it is where the University campus meets the City and the anchoring corner of Auburn's original 1856 campus from which the Auburn University of today has grown. Immediately off Toomer's Corner is the historic Main Gate, or entrance, to the campus. Just a few steps further are the University's three oldest and most historic buildings, Langdon Hall, Hargis Hall, and Auburn's 'Old Main' campus icon, Samford Hall.

But to explain what Toomer's Corner represents today, let's back up a bit. Toomer’s Drug Store, the namesake of the corner, is an Auburn landmark and is still located at the corner of College and Magnolia. And while it's physical appearance has changed a little over time, Toomer's Drugs still occupies it's original building which is visible in the old picture shown here. (The photo is taken from campus and Toomer's is the building on the right.)

Toomer's Drugs, as in days of old, is reputed to serve the best lemonade in the country. In fact, as legend has it John Heisman, the namesake of the Heisman Trophy and one of Auburn's first football coaches, used to frequent Toomer’s Drugs for a taste of the now famous lemonade when he coached at Auburn in the 1890's. Over a century later, in December of 2001, Esquire Magazine compiled a list of "162 Reasons It's Good To Be An American...." Not surprising to Auburn-ites, the lemonade at Toomer's Drug Store was listed in the #1 spot on Esquire's list. They described it to their readers this way: "When God was a little boy and He needed extra money, He put up a card table outside His folk's house. This (Toomer's Lemonade) is what He sold."

Having that background on Toomer's as an Auburn institution, let's move up in time. As the center of town, Toomer’s Corner has long been a gathering place for city events as well as for Auburn students. As such, the corner naturally became the place to celebrate AU athletic victories. Originally, students unable to travel to away-games, who early last century were great in number, would celebrate out-of-town wins symbolically, by gathering at Toomer's Corner with fellow students. Decades later, this celebration evolved to include the "rolling" of trees at Toomer's with toilet tissue. The exact date of the initial "rolling" of Toomer's Corner by students is lost in history, but it was probably in 1962 or 1963. This was the studied opinion of Pharmacist Mac Lipscomb, who operated the drugstore on the Corner from the early fifties into the eighties.

For many years, "rollings" occurred only after an away-game football victory, but eventually, some home-game victories were thought worthy of a rolling. Today, after any football win, and after any significant victories in other sports, Auburn students celebrate by “rolling” the trees (and anything else that doesn’t move) at Toomer’s Corner. Celebrations after significant victories can go on literally for hours and leave the heart of town looking like a blizzard passed through. "Rolling Toomer's" puts Auburn fans, both old and young alike, together in the celebration of an Auburn win and the continuation of an Auburn tradition. It is this togetherness, passed down through generations of Auburn fans, that places "Rolling Toomer's" not only as one of Auburn's great traditions, but consistently ranks nationally as one of the greatest traditions in all of College athletics.

For a real-time view of Toomer's Corner, Select this Toomer's Corner Web Cam link

To order some lemonade from Toomer's Drugs online for your next tailgate, or to learn more about the store, visit the official website of Toomer's Drugs

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