Southern Trais Resort

Plains Georgia

Plains Georgia, Welcomes you

President CarterIn 1975 when Jimmy Carter began his race for the Presidency, national attention was focused on this small southern town. Plains, population 653, was a beehive of  activities with press and tourist in the thousands crowding the streets.

Plains Georgia DepotExcitement at
the Jimmy Carter Presidential Election Headquarters in the old Seaboard Railroad Depot is at a high fever. This tiny town is packed with thousands of people who have been up all night celebrating Mr. Carter's win. Fires burn in metal drums along the street, three bands have played during the night and a huge television screen mounted on a building across from the depot has continuously flashed the election returns. It is impossible to drive in Plains; only residents that know back roads can get in or out of town.

The Carter'sToday, Plains is, once again, a quiet, peaceful small town(population 716) with business as usual and smaller numbers of tourist visiting a President's hometown hoping to get a glimpse of Jimmy Carter and to see this little southern town where a young boy grew up to become the 39th President of the United States.
The rural southern culture of Plains that revolves around farming, church and school had a large influence in molding Mr. Carter's character and in shaping his political policies.

For this reason, the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site and Preservation District was established to interpret the life and Presidency of Jimmy Carter and to preserve the history of this small rural southern town.  

School RoomPlains High School (the official State School of Georgia) is the visitor center and museum for the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, which consist of 77 acres in Plains administered by the U.S. Department of Interior. The restored school where both Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter attended is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Visitors can see films, exhibits all depicting the history of Plains and the 39th President of the United States.

More than any President in recent years, Jimmy Carter is closely identified with his hometown. Americans marvel at how a man from such isolated, small-town upbringing came to broaden his horizons to eventually aspire to the highest office in the country. Even his hometown people were surprised by his decision to seek the Presidency.  

President Carter

  Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.) was born October 1, 1924, in the small farming town of Plains, Georgia.

 He grew up nearby in the community of Archery. His father, James Earl Carter, Sr., was a farmer and businessman; his mother, Lillian Gordy, a registered nurse.

 He was educated in the Plains public schools, attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1946.

 He later did graduate work in nuclear physics at Union College.  

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