History Spotlight: Remembering Boogerville

SOURCES: Jim Bellows. “Worst Slum Areas Bared by Planners.” Columbus Ledger, September 22, 1947. Tim Chitwood. “Remembering ‘Boogerville:’ a Once-Tight Community Reunites to Share Memories.” Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, April 3, 2011. Priscilla Black Duncan. “Memories of Boogerville,” Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, January 27, 1989. Editorial. “Our Boogerville,” The Sunday Ledger – Enquirer, May 16, 1948. Janet Fitzgerald. “Surviving Hard Times in Boogerville: Erin R. M. Bagley and Her Family through Depression and War, 1930 - 1950,” 1998. Bev Greer. “Boogerville” Columbus Ledger, August 14, 1978.  

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A small neighborhood in Columbus, roughly defined by its boundaries of 10th Avenue east to 12th Avenue and 13th Street north to 15th Street (some have said to Linwood Boulevard), is known as Boogerville. The origins of the name are also not completely agreed upon according to several articles about the area.

In an oral history paper completed by Janet Fitzgerald in 1998, she states, “The locals had named their neighborhood after the local baseball team. The members of the team were the boys who lived in the area, and the team was called ‘the Bookers’.”

Others explained that the designation of the area, now almost completely given over to business and industry, came from some of the rougher, tougher inhabitants of the past. According to Superior Court Judge Emeritus J. R. Thompson in a 1978 interview for the Columbus Ledger, “There were a lot of fine, hardworking folk who lived here in Boogerville, but as in most neighborhoods, there were some bad characters. And they’re the ones, who gave Boogerville its name.”

However, some of the older generation didn't like the name. In a 1948 editorial following the arrest of four youths from the neighborhood, the following was reported: "Now we know that some people in "Boogerville," which lies across the tracks just north of the Thirteenth Street viaduct, don't like for us to call the section by that name. Two ladies who said they were property owners but who did not give their names, called to say that they were deeply hurt because this latest outburst of criminal delinquency was so clearly identified with their small, dusty neighborhood. One said she meant to "complain to the Governor." The other said: "You seem to forget we pay taxes. We're just going to stop paying taxes until the city makes people stop calling us "Boogerville" or "Sand Spur City."

Today, Boogerville stands as a primarily commercial and light industrial area, but its memory is strong in the minds of those who called it home.

Above is a current map of the area and four current images. Below is the same area in 1914 with the land lots and the larger landowner/developer names are marked. You can also see the City Limits is marked at 16th Street.

The earliest beginnings of the neighborhood that became Boogerville are traced back to the construction of the Nuckolls-Ingram House. Nathaniel Nuckolls (1800 – 1868) was born in Louisa County, Virginia and moved to Columbus in the early 1830s. He married Louisianna Thornton and together they had ten children. An uncommonly talented man, he experienced success as a mechanic, inventor, gold mine owner, planter, architect, merchant, and possibly also a lawyer. He owned three thousand acres in Russell County, Alabama from which he operated a large plantation.

In 1852, Nuckolls invented a machine for cutting straw that was registered with the United States Patent Office as the “Feeding-Rollers in Straw-Cutters.” For several years, he also operated a retail store in Columbus. Prone to dabbling with mechanical items, he trained a number of the individuals he enslaved to become proficient as mechanics and leased them to other citizens who needed skilled labor. All of these endeavors coalesced to make Nuckolls a wealthy man.

Nuckolls was also proficient as an architect. About 1848, he designed a dwelling along Fifteenth Street as his personal residence. The mansion that he built was the equal of any home or manor in the Columbus area. It was a three-story brick structure with a portico wrapped around three sides. The brick exterior was stuccoed to create uniformly smooth exterior walls.

For the twenty years between construction and Nuckolls death in 1868, he made this residence his primary home. Nathaniel and Louisianna’s son Thomas J. Nuckolls married Emma J. Bradley in 1869 (oldest daughter of Forbes and Theresa Bradley, sister of W. C. Bradley).

In 1870, Nuckolls’s home was sold to Porter Ingram (1810 – 1893). Ingram emigrated from Vermont to west Georgia around 1840. After he settled in Columbus, he was able to gain admittance to the bar prior to 1850. He married Elizabeth Lewis, daughter of Ulysses Lewis, the first Intendant of Columbus.

Following his death, the house was sold to Johnson Williams, who renamed it Bleak House. Williams would later place the house for sale or lease for many years and turn the home into four apartment units with the name Linwood Apartments.

In the early 1920s, Williams moved the house across the street from its original location on 15th Street to make way for the new Linwood School. This mansion, turned apartments, was the groundwork for a neighborhood. By 1951, Etta Blanchard Worsley in her book stated that it was still standing, but in poor condition. Over the next decade, the house would disappear altogether.

In its time, Boogerville epitomized all the best and worst aspects of a neighborhood. Poverty, violence, shotgun homes, and dirt streets. Up until the 1950s, parts of Boogerville had no electricity. Many homes also had back porch faucets and out-houses. But there was also stern discipline, fierce pride, ingenuity born of necessity, generosity, and strong religious belief.

The residents of Boogerville were mill workers, truck drivers, store clerks, or laborers who took on any odd jobs that they could. With close proximity to the Swift Mill on Sixth Avenue, it was easy for the mill working residents to walk to their place of employment. Community members remember the neighborhood as welcoming and could be described as a big family. They described it as a place where doors and windows were left open, bicycles could lie throughout the streets safely, and trust was, above all, the most important aspect of living.

This was a place where people could depend on one another. Luther Miller, a previous resident of Boogerville, describes the average Thanksgiving for the community by saying, “We would eat dinner at two or three different houses. Some of the kids my age, who were raised with me, would eat with me, then we’d leave and go to someone else’s house.... They were always going to feed you, but then at the same time, they’d turn around and spank your rear-end for not doing what you were supposed to do, and your family didn’t get mad if they did.” Boogerville was one large extended family in which neighbors would share whatever they had, or an adult could be a parental figure to the many children of the neighborhood.

Boogerville’s social infrastructure was rooted in networks of mutual aid, discipline, and identity. Families lived in modest homes with close proximity to community landmarks like the Linwood Playground and 11th Avenue Grocery. The grocery store, run by Ulmer Lewis “Cootsie” Cain, was central to local life. Cain operated as a grocer and often a paternal figure in the neighborhood economy.

Recalled former Boogervillian Jesse "Buddy" Williams: "Boogerville was a poor neighborhood. It was more gray collar than blue collar or maybe even just a dirty T-shirt neighborhood. Nobody went hungry in Boogerville.... If you wanted to borrow money, Cootsie would loan you money, but he would give you bronzines with U.L. Cain's Eleventh Avenue Grocery embossed on one side and the face value on the other. We call them "Cootsie Coins." His system of store credit, tracked in a handwritten ledger and supported by the issuance of “Cootsie Coins” ensured that even in periods of economic instability, children could buy necessities like bread, milk, and candy.

Many residents recall their time spent around Cootsie Cain and the true impact that he had on their lives. Rev. David Stephens, a past resident of Boogerville, said, “Some people would have starved, if it hadn't been for him. He’d see that an alcoholic’s child would have an RC and a Moon Pie.” Cain’s generosity to the community positioned him as a key figure in sustaining Boogerville’s residents.

Other businesses in the area also extended credit to the millworkers, but they had the reputation of being run by a criminal mob. One such place was the local bar, the Bloody Bucket. Little is known about the Bloody Bucket. According to a map (below) in Virginia Causey's collection at the CSU Archives, the club was located off of 13th Street by the former Striffler Hamby Funeral Home. It was said to have illegal moonshine run through it by local mob bosses. Police were always patrolling Boogerville, looking and waiting for mob activity. Boogerville was said to be corrupt, but many of the residents disagreed. They believed that Boogerville was like any other neighborhood with hard-working men and women raising their families.

Boogerville’s major landmark was Linwood School, which is located at 15th Street and 11th Avenue. Following the enactment of the compulsory education law, Columbus began to construct several schools. The citizens of Columbus voted for a $150,000 bond issue, which led to the planning of three additional school buildings. One of these schools would be the Linwood School, which would be completed and opened in the fall of 1921. The school provided education to the residents of Boogerville with six educators teaching first through sixth grade. Its playground and the many events hosted by the school were a source of entertainment for those living there.

A few years later, Miss Edwina Wood would grace the halls of Linwood School with her dominant personality. She was a pioneering educator and community leader whose service to Columbus, Georgia, spanned over six decades. A graduate of Columbus High School in 1892 and the Free Kindergarten Association in 1898, she became the city's first official kindergarten teacher and later its director, earning the title “Mother of Kindergarten in Columbus.” Her efforts led to the integration of kindergarten into the public school system, and she trained future teachers while also raising funds to support early childhood education. In 1921, she became the first woman appointed to the Columbus Board of Education, where she served for 20 years and played a key role in expanding and improving the local school system.

In recognition of her profound contributions, Linwood School was renamed Edwina Wood School, a tribute to her legacy and a symbol of her enduring influence on the Columbus community. Today, it is home to The Stewart Community Home, where permanent and transitional safe housing for those homeless and disabled adults requiring limited personal care is provided.

She was often called the “playground teacher,” but Mildred Tillis did not work for the Muscogee County School District. Tillis was a key figure in the city’s recreational department. For decades, she was a constant presence at the Linwood Playground, which was a consistent spot for the children of Boogerville. Miss Tillis made sure the kids had what they needed. Former assistant police chief and Boogerville native, Charles Rowe remembers that "Miss Tillis would open in the morning, then close for a while and reopen in the afternoon, so we’d be there in the morning, check out whatever equipment we wanted, play sports, go home for lunch, and then head right back to play some more. We were on that ball field playing softball most of the time. Most of our days and evenings were lived out on that softball field.” The Tillis Recreation Center at 13th Avenue and Virginia Street in Columbus is named in her honor. Some of the playground still exists today as part of the Gallops Senior Center.

In the 1940s, Boogerville was a focal point for critique and stigma. The neighborhood was often criticized for producing a disproportionate share of the city’s issues.

From the 1948 Sunday Ledger-Enquirer editorial. "I would say that Boogerville is one of the most fruitful - if not the most fruitful - sources of all sorts of crime. I don't mean just juvenile delinquency. It also has a lot of bad adults." This generalization, we discovered, is substantiated by all manner of public records — Police records, fire records, health records, court records. Moreover, City Planner George W. Simons, using data compiled by the Columbus Housing Authority, said some months ago that 40 to 45 percent of all our community's crime and diseases arises from six identifiable slums - most emphatically including Boogerville. Exact percentages of crime, delinquency and disease arising from these six slums 43 percent; infant mortality, 42 percent; communicable disease, 31 percent; Police convictions, 46 percent; venereal disease, 43 percent; juvenile court offenders, 47 percent."

In an interview with Tim Chitwood in 2011, Jean Arambula (now of Valdosta) remembered sitting on the curb there one night watching two boys have a knife fight out in the street, under a light that hung over the road. "She recalled how territorial the neighborhood boys were. No Black person dared walk through Boogerville at night, and anyone from North Highland, East Highland or Beallwood wasn’t warmly welcomed either. A boy from North Carolina once moved in next to her family, she said, and that didn’t go over well…"

Despite its challenges, Boogerville began to revitalize itself. According to local figures like Miss Edwina Wood and "Pop" Austin, the area had improved by the 1950s. Home ownership was on the rise, with countless new families moving to the neighborhood. The quality of the schools began to increase, along with community activities receiving a boost. "Boogerville is 100 percent better than six years ago," “Pop” Austin asserted, noting the changes being made to the neighborhood. These changes would extend Boogerville’s life for a few more years; however, the inevitable was coming.

By the 1970s, business and industry began to take over much of Boogerville, leaving it without the tight-knit community it once had been. Businesses like Litho-Krome, Universal Drives, Columbus Forklift, Jordan Fireplace Equipment, Mowers and Motors, and Muscogee Iron Works began to fill the area. This trend would continue through today.

Former residents of Boogerville held reunions for several years. The last one that was reported on by the Ledger-Enquirer was in 2011. According to the paper, there were over 400 people in attendance.

Boogerville's southern border, 13th Street, has been a part of discussions held at the recent Historic Columbus Board of Directors Retreat. They discussed how Historic Columbus could assist with improving the corridor. They looked at potential overall streetscape improvements, needed façade work, improving property owner relationships, and the remaining historic structures. Our main partnerships would be with Midtown, Inc., the City of Columbus, and the property owners. We have met with Midtown, Inc., and we are moving forward with creating a joint committee to begin a plan for future revitalization along the corridor.

Boogerville has a rich history. While it only exists now in the stories and memories of those who lived there or had family from there, maybe there is a way to include it within future improvements along 13th Street. If you have any ideas or more stories to share, please let me know!

From former Boogerville resident, Pam Tovey (June 28, 2025)

"My family moved there from the Jordan/Johnson area in about 1952 after the tornado hit our home on 42nd street in Columbus. We owned the home on 11th avenue and 15th street on the corner right across the street from Linwood School. There were many fine people in our neighborhood.

My mother, Martha Taylor who just passed away at 95 years old, worked at the Medical Center and commuted to Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama at night. She received her B.S. in education there and went on to earn her Master's and Specialist's degree at Georgia State University. My daddy, Pete Taylor, Sr., was an orphan who volunteered for World War II as a Navy Seabee and received a Bronze Star for bravery. He was a landowner in Columbus and Alabama and a business owner who studied his collection of books, including law books on his own. My brother Pete and I attended Linwood School for 7 years where we had wonderful teachers and many good memories. I was captain of girl's patrol, and we used to walk the small students home during school hours. Sometimes we stopped at Cootsie Cain's store on the way back to school before the bell rang and other times across the street to buy a snow cone.

My favorite teacher of all times was Mrs. Betty Chesser who taught 6th grade. She often gave me a nickel to walk to Mrs. Andrew's grocery store across from the school to buy her a Coke while the kids were playing on Miss Tillis's playground at recess. Many of the students there became very successful. We have ministers, teachers, attorneys, builders and others. My best friend, Gloria was so gifted that teachers let her skip the 3rd grade and she later married an architect, and they live in Atlanta. I became a schoolteacher and taught in Muscogee County for 30 years just like Mama. I married my high school sweetheart who grew up in the Bibb City area, a Viet Nam veteran and who retired as the Principal of Jordan High School, another success story! Most of our neighbors on our street were members of North Highland Assembly of God Church, where my uncle was Pastor for a while. During the summers, we walked to the Bradley Library and visited the Bradley Museum where we continued our education on our own even in the summers.

Yes, there were hoodlums in what we called the "Heart of Boogerville", but we always felt safe and never bothered. To save face and make us feel better, we used to say we lived on the "outskirts of Boogerville". All in all, I'm so glad I grew up there until we moved when I was in high school. I'm so grateful for knowing the people and for all of the rich experiences of living in a place once called Boogerville."

Thank you, Pam!!