Last updated: April 5, 2021
Place
3 Panel Sign at Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm
NPS
Quick Facts
Designation:
National Historical Park
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
(Panel on Left)
Jimmy Carter’s Boyhood Farm
Just down this path is the shady, swept-sand yard where the 39th President of the United States played as a boy, during the years of the Great Depression. This plain white farmhouse, these tangled woods, and the broad fields were home to Jimmy Carter until he left for college. Surrounded by a close family, here young Carter developed the character and values that would carry him to success as a naval officer, engineer, author, governor, president, and world statesman.
In the early years of my life on the farm… we always had enough to eat…but no money to waste. We felt close to nature, close to the members of our family, and close to God.Jimmy Carter, 1975 Why Not the Best?
(Square picture of two African American children)
Only a few neighbors lived nearby. Farther west along the railroad tracks, two dozen families of African American farm workers and one white family lived in a hamlet called “Archery.” Most of Jimmy Carter’s childhood playmates were African American.
(Oval picture of a man in a chair)
William Decker Johnson (left), a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, had started the Johnson Home Industrial College not far down the road from here. When he built this school in 1912 for “the poorest of the poor,” there were no rural high schools for African Americans anywhere nearby.
(large photo)Jimmy Carter, age 12, kicking a football in his front yard.
(Map of Boyhood Farm with buildings labeled and the safety message)
Map of Boyhood Farm
For your Safety…
*Watch out for small dirt mounds; the fire ants inside deliver a painful bite.
*Poison ivy grows here- leaves of three, let it be.
Be alert for snakes, and yield the right-of-way.Keep dogs on leash at all times.
(Center Panel)
A changing panel that tells about the animals, crops, and people who lived and worked on the Carter Farm.
(Panel on Right)
From Here to Plains
Three miles is a long way to walk on railroad tracks in the hot sun- especially for a small boy. Even before he started first grade, Jimmy Carter would take a basket full of boiled peanuts to downtown Plains, which he later said “was for me a center of commerce, education, and religion.” During peanut season, he could sell enough to earn a dollar a day- by walking six miles round trip.Trips into Plains were young Jimmy Carter’s first steps off this farm and into a wider world.
During my childhood I never considered myself a part of the Plains society, but always thought of myself as a visitor when I entered the “metropolitan” community.Jimmy Carter, 1975 " Why Not the Best?"
(Picture of the upper right)
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter exit the Plains Baptist Church (right) in 1976.
Every Sunday from childhood, the Carter family came into town to worship here, where Jimmy’s father taught Sunday School. With some 300 members, this was the largest church in the community.Today visitors to Plains can still see most of the other landmarks- the businesses, school, hospital, peanut warehouse, and depot-that made up young Jimmy Carter’s world.
(Picture lower left)
Visitors are welcome to visit the restored Plains Depot, found in the center of town. In 1976, this depot was the national headquarters for the Carter campaign. Exhibits there highlight the drive for the presidency.
(picture lower center)
Plains High School, where both Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Smith studied, now serves as the National Park Service visitor Center. Exhibits showcase President and Mrs. Carter’s lives and careers.
(picture lower right)
Built by the Carters in 1961, this ranch house on Woodland Drive is the only home they have ever owned. The Carter Compound is closed to private vehicles.
Jimmy Carter’s Boyhood Farm
Just down this path is the shady, swept-sand yard where the 39th President of the United States played as a boy, during the years of the Great Depression. This plain white farmhouse, these tangled woods, and the broad fields were home to Jimmy Carter until he left for college. Surrounded by a close family, here young Carter developed the character and values that would carry him to success as a naval officer, engineer, author, governor, president, and world statesman.
In the early years of my life on the farm… we always had enough to eat…but no money to waste. We felt close to nature, close to the members of our family, and close to God.Jimmy Carter, 1975 Why Not the Best?
(Square picture of two African American children)
Only a few neighbors lived nearby. Farther west along the railroad tracks, two dozen families of African American farm workers and one white family lived in a hamlet called “Archery.” Most of Jimmy Carter’s childhood playmates were African American.
(Oval picture of a man in a chair)
William Decker Johnson (left), a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, had started the Johnson Home Industrial College not far down the road from here. When he built this school in 1912 for “the poorest of the poor,” there were no rural high schools for African Americans anywhere nearby.
(large photo)Jimmy Carter, age 12, kicking a football in his front yard.
(Map of Boyhood Farm with buildings labeled and the safety message)
Map of Boyhood Farm
For your Safety…
*Watch out for small dirt mounds; the fire ants inside deliver a painful bite.
*Poison ivy grows here- leaves of three, let it be.
Be alert for snakes, and yield the right-of-way.Keep dogs on leash at all times.
(Center Panel)
A changing panel that tells about the animals, crops, and people who lived and worked on the Carter Farm.
(Panel on Right)
From Here to Plains
Three miles is a long way to walk on railroad tracks in the hot sun- especially for a small boy. Even before he started first grade, Jimmy Carter would take a basket full of boiled peanuts to downtown Plains, which he later said “was for me a center of commerce, education, and religion.” During peanut season, he could sell enough to earn a dollar a day- by walking six miles round trip.Trips into Plains were young Jimmy Carter’s first steps off this farm and into a wider world.
During my childhood I never considered myself a part of the Plains society, but always thought of myself as a visitor when I entered the “metropolitan” community.Jimmy Carter, 1975 " Why Not the Best?"
(Picture of the upper right)
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter exit the Plains Baptist Church (right) in 1976.
Every Sunday from childhood, the Carter family came into town to worship here, where Jimmy’s father taught Sunday School. With some 300 members, this was the largest church in the community.Today visitors to Plains can still see most of the other landmarks- the businesses, school, hospital, peanut warehouse, and depot-that made up young Jimmy Carter’s world.
(Picture lower left)
Visitors are welcome to visit the restored Plains Depot, found in the center of town. In 1976, this depot was the national headquarters for the Carter campaign. Exhibits there highlight the drive for the presidency.
(picture lower center)
Plains High School, where both Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Smith studied, now serves as the National Park Service visitor Center. Exhibits showcase President and Mrs. Carter’s lives and careers.
(picture lower right)
Built by the Carters in 1961, this ranch house on Woodland Drive is the only home they have ever owned. The Carter Compound is closed to private vehicles.