Editing Toomsboro, Georgia (section)

==History==
Toomsboro was founded when the [[Central of Georgia Railway]] was extended to that point. Its railroad terminal was built in 1869.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EGyf7XQeWEIC&pg=PA71 | title=The Courthouse and the Depot: The Architecture of Hope in an Age of Despair | publisher=Mercer University Press | author=Caldwell, Wilber W. | year=2001 | pages=71| isbn=9780865547483 }}</ref>

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 [[American Civil War|Civil War]].<ref>Feimster, Crystal N. ''Southern Horrors: Women and the Politics of Rape and Lynching.'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009). page 160.</ref><ref>Editors (September 15, 1871) Untitled. ''Wisconsin State Journal.''</ref>

The [[Georgia General Assembly]] incorporated Toomsboro as a town in 1904.<ref>{{cite book|title=Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JJdCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA674|year=1904|publisher=State printer|page=674}}</ref> The community is named for 18th-century Georgia politician [[Robert Toombs]].<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/t.pdf| title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | author=Krakow, Kenneth K. | year=1975 | location=Macon, GA | pages=229 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref>

===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.<ref name="Pat 2020-09-15">{{Cite news|last=Arnold|first=Jeff|date=September 15, 2020|title=Black-Owned Town Named Freedom Could Be Reality TV Series|url=https://patch.com/georgia/atlanta/black-owned-town-named-freedom-could-be-reality-tv-series|access-date=September 17, 2020|work=Atlanta, GA Patch|language=en}}</ref> They suggested a movie production company might be interested in using Toomsboro as a film set.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ajc.com/news/developer-looking-to-sell-1428052.html|agency=Associated Press. |date= April 30, 2012|title=Developer looking to sell Georgia town |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution}}</ref> In September 2018, 36 pieces of property over {{cvt|40 |acres}} went up for sale for an asking price of $1.7 million, with an eye toward a preservation-minded buyer "who appreciates its history".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/national/georgia-town-for-sale-for-the-cost-nyc-luxury-apartment/YrLnonGNqgYteyoMc8qnhJ/|title=Georgia town for sale for the cost of a NYC luxury apartment|first1=Natalie|last1=Dreier|agency=Cox Media Group National Content Desk|work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution}}</ref> In the aftermath of the [[murder of Ahmaud Arbery]] in 2020, 19 families cooperatively bought {{cvt|96.71 |acres}} of land in Toomsboro to establish a [[African Americans|Black]] community "where all Black people feel safe without fear of being murdered for who they are".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.becauseofthemwecan.com/blogs/culture/19-families-purchased-96-71-acres-of-land-in-georgia-to-create-a-city-safe-for-black-people|title=19 Families Purchased Over 90 Acres of Land In GA To Create A City Safe For Black People|website=BOTWC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Kirkland|first=Pamela|date=September 12, 2020|title=19 families buy nearly 97 acres of land in Georgia to create a city safe for Black people|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/12/us/freedom-black-cooperative-toomsboro/index.html|access-date=September 12, 2020|work=CNN}}</ref> The Freedom Georgia Initiative promotes the new community as [[Freedom, Georgia]].{{r|Pat 2020-09-15}}