Jimmy Carter, who died at age 100 on Dec. 29, 2024, traveled all over the globe as the 39th U.S. president and, in his arguably more distinguished post-presidential stretch, as a dauntless advocate for peace and human rights.
But he remained unusually rooted to the rural part of Georgia where he grew up. In fact, Carter “never really left” the town of Plains, according to the Washington Post‘s obituary. “Until late in their lives, he and Mrs. Carter [Rosalynn, who died in 2023] frequently were seen walking hand in hand along Church Street on their way home from Saturday dinners” at the home of a friend.
Plains, which is situated about 150 miles directly south of Atlanta, has become “essentially a living museum of [Carter’s] life,” the newspaper continues, “with old-fashioned storefronts and shops selling everything from Carter Christmas ornaments to campaign memorabilia.”
It’s an indispensable stop for anyone seeking to learn more about—or pay respects to—the life and legacy of the peanut farmer–turned–statesman.
(Jimmy Carter in 2008 | Credit: Nir Levy / Shutterstock)
Jimmy Carter Sites in Plains, Georgia
The National Park Service’s Jimmy Carter National Historical Park in Plains preserves several important places in the life of the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Plains High School (300 N. Bond St.), attended by both Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in the 1940s (Rosalynn graduated valedictorian), is now a visitor center where you can see a classroom, an auditorium, and the principal’s office as they looked when the Carters were students here.
Just south of the high school stands the town’s oldest building: the Plains Depot (107 Main St.), a former train station that served as the headquarters of Carter’s presidential campaign in 1976. Today the depot houses a museum with exhibits focused on Carter’s political career. Photos, campaign memorabilia, and other artifacts help tell the tale of his runs for state senator, Georgia governor, and president.
(The Plains Depot in Plains, Georgia | Credit: Dennis MacDonald / Shutterstock)
Heading west from the downtown area, you’ll come to Carter’s Boyhood Home and Farm (402 Old Plains Highway), where he lived from the age of 4 to when he left for college. Restored to look as it did before electricity was installed in 1938, the farm has a walking path amid the Carters’ modest three-bedroom home, barn, and gardens. Informational exhibits at various points along the way relate the history of the place. At audio stations you can hear Jimmy Carter himself sharing stories of his childhood.
(Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm in Plains, Georgia | Credit: National Park Service)
Crops are still grown at the farm, and, yes, that includes peanuts. Among the resident animals: goats, chickens, mules, and honeybees.
(Park ranger brushing a mule at the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm in Plains, Georgia | Credit: National Park Service / Laura Kuyat)
The National Park Service has maps you can follow for a self-guided driving tour of many other Carter-related spots in Plains, including the Baptist church he and Rosalynn attended, the gas station once owned by the president’s younger brother Billy, and the somewhat unsettling smiling peanut statue on Buena Vista Road.
Also within the bounds of the national historical park: the president’s burial site, next to that of Rosalynn. The two were married for a total of 77 years.
No entrance fee or pass is required to visit the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park. For more information, go to NPS.gov/jica.
(L–R: Jimmy Carter statues at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta and on Buena Vista Road in Plains, Georgia | Credit: Shutterstock)
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta
In his 2020 book His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life, Jonathan Alter describes his subject as “perhaps the most misunderstood president in American history.” In this reassessment, the high inflation and 1979 Iran hostage crisis that doomed Carter to a one-term administration unfairly overshadow accomplishments relating to the environment, Middle East peace negotiations, and other areas.
If Carter’s presidency needs to be better understood, his presidential library in Atlanta (located in Freedom Park) seems a good place to start.
(Oval Office replica at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta | Credit: Michael Gordon / Shutterstock)
Among the exhibits are a full-size replica of the Oval Office in its late-1970s look, a rotunda with 13-foot-tall screens designed to show what a day in the life of the president was like, and a walk-through of the pivotal 1978 Camp David meetings that resulted in the still-intact Egypt–Israel peace treaty.
(Jimmy Carter working on a Habitat for Humanity project in 1992 | Credit: Rob Crandall / Shutterstock)
The center also explores the extraordinary humanitarian work the Carters carried out during the more than 4 decades they lived after leaving the White House, from picking up hammers and paintbrushes with Habitat for Humanity to monitoring elections in fledgling democracies. A huge interactive map at the museum shows just how far the Carters’ reach extended.
The nonprofit Carter Center, headquartered in a building adjacent to the library and museum, is dedicated to continuing its namesakes’ efforts.
Whatever you might think of Carter’s presidency, it’s hard to argue with the assessment offered by Nobel Committee chairman Gunnar Berge at the ceremony awarding Carter the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002: “He is certainly the best ex-president the country ever had.”
Tickets for the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum are $12 for adults; $10 for seniors ages 62 and older, members of the military, and college students with IDs; free for kids ages 16 and younger. You can purchase tickets in person or online in advance. For more info, go to JimmyCarterLibrary.gov.