Plains, Georgia

May 10, 2019

Carter Farm 

Plains, Georgia

“In the bicentennial summer of our faded glory land, a bright new face appeared upon the scene. Of an honest peanut farmer by the name of Jimmy Carter. His eyes were set on every school boys dream.” – Blue Mountain

 

I love history and always enjoy visiting historic places and sites. The small hometown of the 39^th President of the United States, Plains, Georgia is a place that I have always wanted to visit, but never passed through in spite of traveling past it many times on my many trips driving across Georgia on my way between Indiana and Florida. 

 

It always interested me how a small town boy could rise to become the leader of the free world. Jimmy Carter was born and raised in the small country town of Plains, growing up on a farm before entering politics after serving in the US Navy. With the exception of his time as Governor of Georgia and President of the United States, Carter and his wife Roslyn have spent their entire lives in Plains and live there to this day. 

Personally I feel that Jimmy Carter was one of the best men to ever serve as President, though his Presidency was beset with problems throughout and he ultimately only served a single term. Whatever one may think about how good a President the man was, there is no question that he is one of the best ex-presidents ever. An ethical, honest, decent and giving person, Carter represents the personification of the American ideal and the American dream.

 

To this day, both he and his wife are among the greatest humanitarians our nation have ever produced. Plains is a really small town in Sumpter, County with a population of less than 1000 in the most recent census. The National Park Service has acquired many of the historic sites in the town and created the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site and I wanted to check out the various places that were significant in Carter’s life.

 

I started at the former Plains, High School which has been restored and converted into a museum that celebrates Carter’s life and times. Much of the school is virtually unchanged including complete classrooms and the original auditorium which shows a film highlighting Carter and his life. One of the cool thing about a historic site in which the history is so recent, is that many of the volunteers were part of the history and many remain good friends with the Carters and they offer rare personal insights into the man and his story.

In fact everywhere I went in town, the small shops on Main Street, the church where Jimmy Carter still teaches Sunday School every Sunday, to the family farm where Carter grew up and is also maintained by the National Park Service, there were nice people who were friends of the family. 

I checked out the shops on Main Street, which were full of Carter memorabilia and cool Plains, Georgia gear. I also visited the former train station in the middle of downtown that served as Carter campaign headquarters during his 1976 Presidential Campaign. The highlight was I think, the Carter family farm, where Carter was raised until adulthood, The home and farm are maintained just as it was during his youth and is a beautiful, quiet place.

 

I drove by Carter’s current home, which is beautiful tree-lined compound that is not open to the public obviously, but is readily visible from the road. There are also minor Carter era landmarks to see such as Jimmy’s brother Billy’s Service Station and the home where Roslyn Carter grew up.