Booches on a Summer Night, South Ninth Street

Booches on a Summer Night, South Ninth Street

Stephen Bybee
Columbia, MO
2014

After living in Columbia for nearly 25 years, I haven’t taken that many photographs of Booche’s.  I know that Booche’s is a unique and historic business in Columbia, with many devoted patrons and burgers that hover somewhere just shy of a mythical quality, but the front of the building is so hard to photograph because Ninth Street is usually full of parked cars, blocking any meaningful photographic vantage point.  A few weeks into summer break on the calendars of our three collegiate institutions, and this problem resolves itself as Columbia loses some of its scholarly residents, and parking spots and empty streets appear everywhere across the city.   This photograph was taken on June 10, 2014, one of the very few times I have had a clear view of Booche’s with no cars parked in front.  There is a significant amount of history tied up in this establishment and in its founder, Paul “Booch” Venable.  The buildings to the left and the right of Booche’s also have their own histories…the imposing Hall Theatre to the left, and a now demolished building to the right of Booche’s.  I think I will save these stories for another day.  I am not completely sure that this image is finished…I think with some work I could bring a little more out of it, but for now, here is Booche’s on an early summer night in 2014.