The next map, from 1902, shows a different business in that location and a pool hall on the northeast corner of Broadway and Tenth.
Here’s the first I was able to find in the Sanborn Maps, which shows a pool and billiards hall near the southwest corner of Broadway and Tenth. Why? It might have been because Booche’s had three different locations on or near Broadway and Tenth between 18. The next year, it simply says “Broadway and Tenth,” but doesn’t mention which corner of Broadway and Tenth.Īdvertisement from the 1904 Savitar, page 246. The 1903 Savitar has an ad that shows the interior but doesn’t mention the location. The earliest reference to Booche’s I could find in print in our digital collections was in the 1903 Savitar yearbook (there might be earlier references, but they’re not digitized, and for the sake of time for this post I was sticking to digital resources). This Sanborn Map shows a billiards business next to the lumberyard owned by W. If Booche’s was the only pool hall in town in the 1880s (and I’m guessing it was Columbia had less than 10,000 people back then), its first location was near Broadway and Seventh. And I found quite a bit! In fact, I found so much that I decided to make it a full-fledged post on this blog rather than a quick Tumblr photoset.īooche’s bounced around several different locations and advertised to students in its first 50 years.
Having eaten many a cheeseburger at Booche’s myself, I set about trying to find evidence of the pool hall in our digital collections: the Savitar yearbook, Missouri Alumnus, Showme Magazine, and the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Named for “Booche” Venable, the first owner, Booche’s is a bit of a Columbia legend for its atmosphere, its burgers, and its long history. Tumblr user thesetenthings contacted us to ask about the history of Booche’s, the downtown Columbia pool hall that has been open since 1884. Earlier this week I put out a call on Tumblr for photos of present-day downtown Columbia and campus that we could match up with materials in our collections.