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Jimmy Carter National Historical Park pays homage to the rural roots of the 39th President of the United States.
Introduction to Jimmy Carter National Historical Park
James Earl Carter Jr. was born on October 1, 1924, in the small town of Plains, Georgia, and rose from peanut farmer to the most powerful position in the world. Jimmy Carter National Historical Park is composed of several sites in Plains and Jimmy Carter’s Boyhood Farm a few miles away. Only three of the sites are open to the public while others can be seen on a walking or driving tour of town. None of the sites charge admission. Check the official website for more info.
Plains High School
The best place to start is the Plains High School Visitor Center, which is open daily. Carter attended classes in the former school built in 1921.
Inside, you can find the principal’s office decorated as it would have looked in the 1930s. You can also step into Carter’s 7th grade English classroom. Miss Julia Coleman was Carter’s English teacher in 1937 and played an integral role in his education.
Behind the welcome desk, you can see a replica of Carter’s desk and chair from the Oval Office, his Nobel prize, and lots of campaign memorabilia.
A museum about the life of Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Smith Carter (1927-2023), takes up one wing of the building. The other wing features panels about the couple’s political life.
Plains Depot
The second site open to the public is the campaign headquarters which were housed in the old Plains Depot, which was built in 1888. It’s open from 9am to 4:30pm.
Inside, you can learn about the successful two-year presidential campaign run by Carter beginning in 1975. What’s the reason Carter chose the old depot? It was the only available building in Plains that had a bathroom.
Billy Carter’s Service Station
The third site you can visit in Plains is Billy Carter’s service station, which sits across the street from the depot. It’s not run by the National Park Service but still an important part of Jimmy Carter’s story. The building, which was built in 1952, was acquired by the Plains Better Hometown Association in 2008 who opened it as the Billy Carter Museum.
Inside, there’s a lot of memorabilia on display telling the story of Billy Carter (1937-1988), Jimmy’s brother, who bought the station in 1972 and ran it until 1981. During the presidential campaign, journalists used it as their headquarters.
Sites in Plains
If you plan on driving or walking to other points of interest, you can start in the small downtown. The building with the huge “Home of Jimmy Carter” sign is the old Carter peanut warehouse. Jimmy’s father Earl (1894-1953) ran a peanut business and the Earl Carter Insurance Agency from the building from 1934 until his death. After that, Jimmy took over and ran the business until 1961.
Nearby is Golden Peanut Company, which was once part of the Carter Warehouse complex from 1934 to the 1980s. There’s also the Williams Warehouse, which has been around since 1896.
Jimmy Carter’s Birthplace
Jimmy was born in what is now the Lillian G. Carter Nursing Center, built in 1921. His mother Lillian worked there when it was a hospital called the Wise Sanitarium.
Rosalynn Carter’s House
Rosalynn grew up in a modest home in the south of town. She was best friends with Jimmy’s sister Ruth (1929-1983). Jimmy and Rosalynn went on their first date in 1945 when Jimmy was on leave from the US Naval Academy, and she lived in the house until the two were married.
Churches
Plains Baptist Church, built in 1906, is where Jimmy was baptized and where his family attended church as he was growing up. Across the street is St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, built in 1907, where Rosalynn often attended as a child with her grandmother.
The couple were married on July 7, 1946, at the Plains United Methodist Church, which was built in 1910. In 1981, they became members of Maranatha Baptist Church, built in 1978, on the north side of town. Jimmy occasionally taught Sunday School there.
Jimmy and Rosalynn’s Homes
On the corner of Paschall and Thomas Streets is Public Housing Unit 9-A. Jimmy and Rosalynn lived there for just over a year in 1953 after Jimmy returned from his Naval service. The complex provides public housing to this day.
From 1955 to 1961 the couple lived in the Rylander House, which was built in 1850 and is on the way to the boyhood farm.
In 1961, the couple built a ranch home where they resided for the rest of their lives. The Carter Compound is the only home they ever owned and is closed to the public. Don’t slow down or linger too much or you’ll attract the attention of the Secret Service!
Smiling Peanut
Finally, on the way to the Maranatha Baptist Church, you’ll notice the Smiling Peanut. This 13-foot sculpture was built for a campaign rally in Evansville, Indiana, during the 1976 election, and then transported to Plains.
Jimmy Carter’s Boyhood Farm
A few minutes from downtown Plains is Jimmy Carter’s Boyhood Farm. Carter lived there from the age of four until he started university. It’s open daily.
A visit to the farm starts on a self-guided tour from the parking lot, where you can see the 39th president’s handprint in concrete. You can then follow the loop trail around the farm and back to the parking lot. Throughout the tour there are audio buttons you can press to hear Carter talk about growing up on the farm. Click here to take a virtual tour of the farm.
House
In the beginning the trail takes you past a small field with goats and an outhouse, and ends at the house where Carter’s family lived. The first room you can visit is Jimmy’s bedroom, which displays some of his personal items.
You can also see the rooms of his siblings and parents as well as the bathroom.
Common areas such as a breakfast room, dining room, living room, and the front porch are all decorated the way the Carters would have kept them. The living room has a radio that the family would gather around and listen to their favorite programs.
General Store
The trail continues by exiting from the front of the house. It leads past the tennis court to the Carter’s general store. The family ran a store that sold supplies, food, and clothes to other rural households.
Farm
Next, the trail runs past the Carter family’s private garden and some of the other fields where they planted different crops.
A blacksmith shop, barn, and stables are also located on the property.
Clark House
Finally, the Clark House sits on an extension to the trail. The Clark family were tenant farmers who worked on the Carter farm. Jimmy admired the Clarks for their values and work ethic.
Inside the house, you can get an understanding of how tenant farmers lived. Everything was much more simple, from the bedding to the kitchen.
Plains, Georgia
Jimmy Carter National Historical Park is situated around the small rural town of Plains, Georgia. Everything in town revolves around Jimmy Carter and the local crop, peanuts.
The area that is now Plains was originally inhabited by the Muscogee people. The town was founded in 1885 and incorporated in 1896. The local economy was mostly based on cotton, with the addition of peanut cultivation in the 1920s. It now sees a high number of tourists visiting Jimmy Carter National Historical Park.
There’s not much to do outside the Jimmy Carter-related sites, but the small downtown is pleasant and has a few places worth popping into.
Plain Peanuts
One place you have to visit is Plain Peanuts, which sells all kinds of peanut products and local memorabilia. You can get natural peanut butter, fried peanuts, peanut brittle, and many more interesting items. They also serve excellent peanut butter ice cream. The store is housed in the old Carter peanut warehouse.
Buffalo Café
Also downtown is the Buffalo Café, which is set in an old bank building. Historic photos of the town line the walls, and they have decent food, too. I had a patty melt and Marisol had vegetable soup. We shared an order of buffalo wings. The price was very reasonable for the quality of the food.
