Jimmy Carter - Archery, GA
N 32° 01.539 W 084° 25.810
16S E 742702 N 3546166
The farm where President Jimmy Carter lived from 4 years of age until he departed for college in 1941 is located in Archery, Georgia, and is now part of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site.
Waymark Code: WM8EBV
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 03/21/2010
Views: 6
Jimmy Carter's boyhood home and farm is located in Archery, Georgia, about 3 miles west of Plains, Georgia.
From the National Park Service's Boyhood Farm Brochure:
James Earl Carter, Sr. and his family moved to this house in 1928, six years after it had been built by the Plexico family. The house is typical of a middle class rural dwelling in southwestern Georgia during the 1930s. Heat was originally provided by fireplaces and woodstoves. Initially, there was no running water and electricity was not available until 1938. This farm was sold by Earl Carter to T. Richard Downer in 1949. The Downer family owned the property until 1994. At that time the National Park Service purchased from the Downers 17 acres of the original 360-acre farm which includes the
residence and surrounding structures. Richard Downer’s brother, J.T. Downer, is the current owner of the surrounding property. The site is restored to its appearance before electricity was installed in 1938.
The day the Carter family moved to the farm in 1928 was memorable. Earl Carter forgot his house key and his 4-year-old son Jimmy crawled through a window to open the front door. The family did not lock the door again. “When electricity came to the farm,” Jimmy Carter recalled, “an unbelievable change took place in our lives.” This farm was home to Jimmy Carter until he departed for college in 1941. Jimmy’s siblings, Gloria, Ruth, and Billy were also raised on the farm. The Carters grew peanuts, cotton, sugar cane, and corn to sell, and raised vegetables and livestock for their own consumption on this farm.