Tiger Barber Shop, Ninth Street

Stephen Bybee
Columbia, MO
January, 2011

With spring truly here, and a very warm weekend approaching, I thought it was an appropriate time to bring us back to the snowy streets of downtown Columbia on a winter’s night. This photo of the Tiger Barber Shop was taken in January 2011. I had been intrigued by the building’s shape, and by its unique Tudor Revival architecture for some time before I finally figured out how to frame it, and a snowy night was the perfect vehicle for capturing both the building housing the barber shop and the top floor of the James building one block east on Tenth Street. According to a quick perusal of historic Sanborn Maps, this corner was occupied by a frame dwelling in 1902, and by a boarding house in 1914. By 1925 the current building had been constructed, while the three-story James Building visible in the distance served as the headquarters for Columbia’s Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks. Since 2011 this view has changed, but only a little…the historic James Building was demolished eight years ago, but this beautiful and historic building on the corner, nearly 100 years old today, is still standing and continues to house the Tiger Barber Shop, in business on this corner for 98 years.