“Creaks in the night, my senses sublime. Footsteps in our room, or a step back in time? Maybe I was dreaming, or maybe it’s deja vu. But this was the home of the dead; plus, Vicki heard them too.”
When Tom’s alarm rang at 6:30am on Tuesday April 23, 2024, his iPhone broke the deafening silence in our Presidential Suite at the Plains Historic Inn. But that wasn’t the first startling noise I heard since Tom dowsed the room’s lights nine hours earlier. At roughly three o’clock in the morning, chills ran up and down my stainless-steel spine when I heard three distinct footsteps in our room. That’s right – the refurbished wooden floorboards of the Inn, which was once a funeral home in the 1920s, creaked from the weight of someone walking; even though both of my companions were fast asleep in bed.
There were only three steps, and then silence once again filled the room. The sound I heard was exactly the same as I had experienced in Greeneville, Tennessee’s haunted General Morgan Inn three years earlier. Had my wild imagination taken over my subconscious, primarily because I knew our room at the Inn was once the home of the dead.
After Tom spent time in the same bathroom likely used by President Carter during his stay twenty years earlier, Vicki sat up in bed and said something to my photographer I’ll never forget. “I heard footsteps in the middle of the night – the wooden floor creaked with each step. I knew it wasn’t you because you were still sleeping alongside me. I never opened my eyes because I didn’t want to know who or what was walking around.”
While my two companions packed up their belongings and got ready to take on the day, I stood on the couch where Jimmy Carter once sat and thought about his amazing life – from this tiny town of Plains to the White House, and back again to Plains. To me, he was much more than a President of the United States. While in office, Carter represented the common-clay folks of America, but the politicians in power at the time did all they could to undermine his Presidency. With the exception of Abraham Lincoln, there hasn’t been a more honest person in the White House, before or after Jimmy Carter. And when he was voted out of office in 1980, that’s when the Peanut Farmer from Plains did some of his finest and most memorable work. For the past 40-plus years, Carter was an amazingly hard worker, as well as the consummate ambassador for peace in the world, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize. And to top it all off, Jimmy Carter was one of the nicest men I’ve ever had the honor of meeting – which happened in 2019.
On that morning, as I paid my silent tribute to President Carter in the room where Jimmy and Rosalynn once stayed, I knew he was only a half-mile away at his home on Woodland Drive. At 99 years old, Carter is the longest-lived President in American history – he had surpassed the second-oldest, George H.W. Bush, on March 22, 2019. When it comes to longevity, as well as being an amazing humanitarian, Jimmy Carter will be a tough act to follow. God speed, Mr. President, on your journey to October 1st, your 100th birthday, and beyond.
Once our Jeep was loaded up, Tom carried me to a couple of the Carter sites that were within short walking distance of the Historic Inn. Then we finished our morning in Plains by driving to an additional six sites, including the birthplace of our 39th President. Please sit back and enjoy Tom’s photos from Day Two of our Jimmy Carter hometown tour.
When we left the Historic Inn, Tom carried me to the Plains Depot, which was only two hundred yards away. The historic train depot was constructed in 1888 and is the oldest building in Plains, Georgia.
In 1976, Plains had a population of 683 people, including Jimmy Carter, who used the Plains Depot as his official campaign headquarters during his run for the Presidency.
During the 1976 Presidential election, roughly 10,000 people per day flocked to the tiny town to learn more about the one-time peanut farmer and Georgia governor.
While posing outside of the Plains Depot, it was easy to imagine the feverish atmosphere around this historic building when Governor Carter won the 1976 Presidential election over Gerald Ford.
Not only could I see the Plains Historic Inn down the street from where I’m standing on the depot’s platform, but it was almost as though I could hear President-elect Jimmy Carter as he delivered a speech from a raised podium in front of me.
On November 3, 1976, the day after he won the Presidential election, Jimmy Carter delivered a speech from his campaign headquarters in Plains, Georgia.
Although Tom and I were alone in the historic depot, this place was the epicenter of the Presidential race in 1976 for Jimmy Carter.
Governor Carter was photographed in 1976 as he attended a campaign event held inside the Plains Depot.
When we were finished at the Plains Depot, Tom carried me across the street to the service station once owned by Billy Carter, the President’s younger brother.
The reason for our return visit to the station wasn’t because Tom wanted to buy a Diet Coke from the vending machine to my left. It was because the interior of the Billy Carter Museum was open to the public that morning and the two of us wanted to go inside.
The museum was filled with photos and artifacts centered around the Carter family, which included many items owned and used by the President’s younger brother Billy. As I stood on one of the showcases, I envisioned Jimmy and Billy sitting in front of me as they enjoyed lunch during a campaign stop in 1976.
Billy Carter and his famous brother Jimmy were photographed inside the service station as they enjoyed lunch on September 10, 1976 during a campaign stop. Less than two months later, Jimmy Carter was elected President of the United States.
During my time inside the service station, I chuckled to myself when I thought about Billy Carter. Not only did he run for mayor of Plains in 1976, which he lost 97 – 71 votes, he was also the mastermind behind Billy Beer in 1977. His biggest claim to fame, however, was Billygate, which came in late 1978 and early ’79. That’s when the President’s brother received a million-dollar loan from the Libyan government. It’s believed Billy repaid only $1,000 of the loan, and the entire scandal embarrassed the President.
I’m posing next to a shirt once worn by Billy Carter. The shirt was on display inside the museum.
The Carter brothers, with Billy wearing the same shirt I was photographed with.
My photographer insisted we drive to the next site on our tour, even though this house was only a quarter mile south of the Historic Inn. I’m standing in front of the childhood home of Rosalynn Carter.
Wilburn Edgar Smith moved his entire family to this house in 1928, which included his 16-month-old daughter Eleanor Rosalynn Smith. The future First Lady lived in this home until she married Jimmy Carter in 1946.
We discovered this “Dancing Monarch Sculpture”, which was located in the Rosalynn Smith Garden next to her childhood home. The colorful work of art was created by Peter Hazel and unveiled on August 13, 2022 – just in time for Rosalynn’s 95th birthday.
The impressive sculpture consisted of eight limbs and eighteen monarch butterflies, which was symbolic of Rosalynn Carter’s birthday – August 18th.
From the childhood home of Rosalynn Carter, we headed north through the town of Plains where we found Public Housing Unit 9-A. The small apartment duplex was located roughly two blocks west of the Plains Baptist Church.
After his father’s death in 1953, Jimmy Carter left the U.S. Navy and returned to Plains to take over the family peanut business. The Carters and their three young sons moved into unit 9A of the Dura Apartments, one of six Federal Housing Projects built by the Americus Housing Authority in 1953 in Plains and two other nearby towns.
When Carter talked about the apartment behind me, he called it “a homey place”, and said “we lived in 9-A for a little more than a year, and the second year we increased our income from less than $250 up to $3,500… it really wasn’t all that much. But it seemed like a lot to us.”
The building behind me was where James Earl Carter, Jr. got his start. No, not the start of his political career – I’m talking the start of his life. The Wise Sanitarium was where the future President was born.
Known as the Lillian G. Carter Nursing Center since 1976, Wise Sanitarium was a 60-bed hospital built in 1921 by Doctors Samuel, Thaddeus and Bowman Wise – children of early Plains settlers Dr. Burr T. Wise and Laura Addy Wise
President Jimmy Carter was born on October 1, 1924 inside the building I’m standing next to. At the time of his birth, Lillian Carter worked there as a registered nurse. It turned out Carter was the first U.S. President born in a hospital – and it was this hospital in Plains, Georgia.
The next stop on our morning tour was at Plains High School, which was built across the street from the Plains Baptist Church in 1921. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter attended all of their public schooling in this building. Today, the school serves as the Visitor Center for the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park, which is part of the National Park Service.
For many years after its construction, Plains High School offered grades one through eleven, with students graduating after the 11th grade. The school didn’t include a twelfth grade until 1952. Both Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Smith attended this school throughout their childhoods. Jimmy received his diploma in 1941, and Rosalynn graduated valedictorian in 1944.
I’m standing above the “Board of Education”, which was one of the first artifacts I saw on display inside the school. For serious offenses, Principal Sheffield punished boys with three to seven licks of this paddle. Wearing their punishment like a badge of honor, students signed the notorious paddle. The brass bell below me was used by teacher Julia Coleman to signal students to change classes.
I’m standing on the desk in a classroom which represented Julia Coleman’s classroom. This classroom is set to the year 1937, when Miss Julia was Jimmy Carter’s seventh grade English Teacher. Miss Julia was an inspirational teacher in the life of Jimmy Carter, and one who he mentioned in his inaugural address.
I was very happy to see my name listed on the chalkboard behind me, although I didn’t enjoy playing third fiddle to George and John.
Carter once said of his beloved teacher, “In many ways, Miss Julia was married to us students. She was an old maid, but we were her family, and it was because of Miss Julia that saw something in me and many other students that maybe others didn’t see. I learned about music, I learned about literature, I learned about religion from her – things that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. The most vivid memory of mine was Miss Julia’s admonition of being able to accommodate changing times, but cling to unchanging principles. And this made such an impression on me that when I gave my inaugural speech as President, I quoted Miss Julia. I’m the only President who ever quoted his high school teacher.”
I’m standing on the stage in the school’s auditorium. In the 1930s, the school day began for students in the auditorium. Students sang patriotic songs, announcements were made, and on special occasions students performed plays on the stage for the entire student body.
As I stood on the historic stage, I wondered to myself whether or not the school’s graduation ceremonies took place in this auditorium in the early 1940s. If they did, both Jimmy and Rosalynn walked across this very stage when they received their high school diplomas.
While in the museum section of the school, I posed on a radial arm saw which represented President Carter’s work with Habitat for Humanity. The hammer below me was once used by Jimmy Carter and was signed by the President.
This hammer, signed by President Carter, was used by Jimmy during his Habitat for Humanity Work Project in 1990 where he helped build 100 homes in Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, California.
Jimmy Carter was gifted this sculpture of The Last Supper by Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who presented the artwork to the President at the Maranatha Baptist Church on March 5, 1997. The gift was intended to thank Carter for his efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.
In 1976, the President’s mother, Lillian Carter, campaigned for her son at the Plains Depot while sitting in this rocking chair.
Lillian Carter was photographed in the Plains Depot the moment her son was announced the winner of the 1976 Presidential election.
Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 11, 2002. Winners of the prize are given three awards – two to put on display and one to keep. This Nobel Peace Prize was on display at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park in Plains. A few years earlier, I saw the second one at Carter’s Presidential Library in Atlanta. It’s believed the third award is kept at Carter’s homestead on Woodland Drive in Plains.
This 13-foot-tall peanut sculpture was originally commissioned in 1976 by the Indiana Democratic Party to support Jimmy Carter’s campaign through the state of Indiana. Today, it’s located along the route between Carter’s home and the church he attended every Sunday. It’s also a known fact that Jimmy Carter hated the statue, primarily because of its smile.
I looked pretty small standing next to the roadside attraction, which is the second-tallest statue of a peanut in the world. The iconic campaign symbol was made of wooden hoops, chicken wire, aluminum foil, and polyurethane. The peanut features a large grin, modeled after Carter’s, which he was known for during the campaign.
Our morning’s final stop, which was the Maranatha Baptist Church, was a symbolic visit for us. The last time I saw this church with my own painted eyes, which was on July 14, 2019, I was in the presence of President Jimmy Carter. Five years later, however, the thoughts of Rosalynn Carter filled my resin heart.
The casket of Rosalynn Carter as it was carried out of Maranatha Baptist Church on November 29, 2023.
Following the casket of his beloved wife of 77 years was President Jimmy Carter, whose frail condition had forced him into a wheelchair.
Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains was built in 1978 while the Carter’s resided in the White House. When they left Washington and returned to Plains, the Carter’s began to worship in this church. For years, up until his health forced him to stop, the President taught Sunday school at the church and greeted worshipers, visitors, and bobble heads after each service.
A line of mourners followed Rosalynn Carter’s casket as it was carried towards the awaiting hearse. The former First Lady was escorted to the family residence on Woodland Drive where she was laid to rest in a private ceremony.
This side entrance of the church was where we entered the building in 2019. As I stood alone, in solemn silence, my thoughts were centered around Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. Although I met the President five years earlier, I saw both Jimmy and Rosalynn together in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 22, 2014.
Life doesn’t get any better than this for a bobble head, Presidential historian, and his wife. This photo captured the moment I met President Jimmy Carter inside the Maranatha Baptist Church.
On September 22, 2014, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were in Grand Rapids, Michigan for a book signing event followed by lecture, which was part of the Grand Rapids Community College Diversity Lecture Series. The President and First Lady offered their thoughts on women’s rights around the world.
At one point during the lecture, when Tom held me up for this photo, I thought I saw Rosalynn looking at me. I bet she was thinking, “That’s the handsomest bobble head I’ve ever seen, including Jimmy’s!”
The last stop on our Jimmy Carter Hometown Tour, which took the better part of two days to complete, was at the Maranatha Baptist Church. That particular church was located roughly a mile north of the Plains Historic Inn and was where Tom, Vicki, and I met President Jimmy Carter on July 14, 2019. Our return trip to the church was special to me and being there again brought back a flood of memories from five years earlier when we attended the Sunday church service and posed for photos with the President. I also thought about First Lady Rosalynn Carter, whose private funeral was held inside the church on November 29, 2023 – ten days after she passed away at her home.
At roughly 11:17am, it was time to depart Plains and head for our next destination, which was the Florida State Capitol Building in Tallahassee. Thankfully, our route south took us back through the center of Plains, which gave me one final look at the Smiling Peanut Statue, Jimmy Carter’s birthplace, the Plains Baptist Church where the President worshipped as a child, Plains High School, and the Plains Historic Inn where things went bump in the night.
I loved my time in Plains and hopefully we’ll be back at some point in the future. Even though there was 50s music playing on the Jeep’s radio, there was a 1984 song by Van Halen that began to run through my hallow resin head. Some of the lyrics to ‘Top Jimmy’ soothed my soul as I left Jimmy Carter behind one last time.
“Jimmy on the television, famous people on there with him Jimmy on the news at five. Jimmy on the radio and even on the video The baddest cat alive. Driving all the women crazy, all they want is Jimmy baby Love it when he rolls his eyes.
Top Jimmy cooks, top Jimmy swings; He’s got the look. Top Jimmy, oh, Jimmy; Top Jimmy, go Jimmy; Top Jimmy, oh, he’s the king.”
James Earl Carter, Jr. may never have been king, but he’s one of my favorite Presidents. I, for one, will be heartbroken when his final day on Earth comes. Our nation, as well as the entire world, could use a Jimmy Carter right now. We need his honesty; his integrity; and his skill at facilitating peace throughout the unsettled world we live in today. As Plains disappeared in our rearview mirror, the simple words of President Carter’s wisdom made my soul smile, just like the peanut below.
“I have often wanted to drown my troubles, but I can’t get my wife to go swimming.”
My name is Thomas Watson and I've been a U.S. history fanatic since I was 9 years old. In 2013, I decided to take my passion to the next level when I purchased a Thomas Jefferson bobble head with the sole intention of photographing that bobble head at Presidential sites. From that first day on July 10, 2013 at Spiegel Grove in Fremont, Ohio, this journey has taken on a life of its own. Now, nearly 40,000 miles later, I thought it was time to share the experiences, stories, and photos of Jefferson's travels. Keep in mind, this entire venture has been done with the deepest respect for the men who held the office as our President; no matter what their political affiliations, personal ambitions, or public scandals may have been. This blog is intended to be a true tribute to the Presidents of the United States and this story will be told Through the Eyes of Jefferson. I hope you enjoy the ride!
2 thoughts on “287: ‘TOP JIMMY’ IN PLAINS AND THE ONLY PEANUT HE HATES”
This was a very nice tribute to a truly wonderful human being. Thanks to you and Vicki I had the chance to meet President Carter in Grand Rapids. Sadly, my first visit to Plains will be his funeral. Jimmy’s appearance at Rosalynn’s funeral was so heart-breaking.
This was a very nice tribute to a truly wonderful human being. Thanks to you and Vicki I had the chance to meet President Carter in Grand Rapids. Sadly, my first visit to Plains will be his funeral. Jimmy’s appearance at Rosalynn’s funeral was so heart-breaking.
When you go to the funeral, I hope you let me and TJ go with you! Thanks for the comment and I’m glad you enjoyed the tribute.