Plains, Georgia, United States

🇺🇸 Plains is a city in Sumter County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Americus Micropolitan Statistical Area. Plains is best known as the birthplace and home of Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States.

History Originally inhabited by the Muscogee people, by the 1840s three small settlements existed nearby: Plains of Dura, Magnolia Springs, and Lebanon. As railway access expanded into the region in response to increased cotton farming, these settlements coalesced closer to the new railway location. As businesses rapidly developed, local businessmen successfully petitioned the State Legislature to shorten Plains of Dura to Plains. Plains was subsequently incorporated in 1896. Plains continued to experience growth fueled by cotton cultivation well into the early twentieth century. A substantial school and the pioneering Wise Sanitarium were both built in the 1920s. Despite differentiation into peanut cultivation, the Great Depression deprived the community of much of its prosperity. Plains remained a quiet Southern town until Jimmy Carter rose to political prominence as Governor of Georgia in the 1970s, eventually becoming President of the United States from 1977 to 1981.

During the 1976 presidential election and for many years afterwards, Plains saw a giant influx in tourism. Nearly ten thousand people would pour into the community daily.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), all land. The city's boundary is in the shape of a circle. Plains has a centre longitude/latitude point which is -83.0813/33.4553. Plains is located in west-south-western Georgia, 120 miles due south of Atlanta.

Points of interest Many of the town’s attractions are related to the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park. Carter’s high school, birthplace, campaign headquarters, former site of family business, and his brother Billy’s service station are all within a close vicinity of one another in the centre of town. The iconic Smiling Peanut Statue, a gift to Carter from supporters in Evansville, Indiana, lies on the outskirts of town. His boyhood home is in nearby Archery.

Andersonville National Historic Site and the National Prisoner of War Museum are located in the vicinity of Plains. Georgia Southwestern State University is located in the nearby town of Americus. Westville, a re-created town depicting the living history of mid-nineteenth century Georgia, is located in the nearby town of Lumpkin in adjacent Stewart County.