Georgia Magazine - June 2022 - 19

Curious GEORGIA
By H.M. Cauley
Georgia's ties to three U.S. presidents
G
eorgia claims only one homegrown
president: Plains native Jimmy
Carter. But two others who held that
office have deep roots in the state as well.
Augusta
Thomas Woodrow Wilson served as
the 28th president from 1913 to 1921. He
was born in Virginia but spent most of his
boyhood in Augusta.
His former homestead, built in 1859 at
419 Seventh St., was the manse of the First
Presbyterian Church, where his father was
minister. Tommy, as he was called, was a
toddler in 1860 when the family moved in.
They remained until 1870, making the
Augusta house the one where Wilson
lived the longest.
In those formative years, Wilson saw
firsthand the devastation of the Civil War. This made a lasting
impression that scholars suggest became the reason he was
reluctant to lead the country into World War I.
" The train station was just a few blocks away, and soldiers,
especially from [the] Chickamauga [campaign], were unloaded
there, " says Erick Montgomery, executive director of Historic
Augusta. " The church of his father, diagonally across the street
from the house, was one of several used as a hospital. "
Today, the two-story, red-brick house is a historic site and
gives visitors a sense of what the family's life was like. Furnishings
throughout the formal rooms and bedrooms reflect the
period. Perhaps the most intriguing artifact that remains from
Wilson's time is the window pane where he etched " Tom " into
the glass. wilsonboyhoodhome.org.
Warm Springs
The 32nd president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, hailed
from New York, but his battle with polio led him to Georgia so
frequently that his home in Warm Springs was dubbed " The
Little White House. "
The modest, one-level structure with just six rooms was
completed in 1932, when Roosevelt was governor of New York.
After the presidential election in 1933, he made frequent visits
to exercise and relax in the warmth of local waters, which were
reputed to be therapeutic.
In 1945, while posing for a portrait in the main living room,
Roosevelt collapsed and died. The frame house, now a historic
property managed by Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites,
remains as he left it. Visitors can meander through the bedroom
where he died, the small kitchen, Eleanor Roosevelt's bedroom
and the living room.
The grounds include a museum that houses a variety of
exhibits and artifacts, including that unfinished portrait and
Roosevelt's 1938, hand-controlled Ford convertible.
Recordings of his Fireside Chats and a film about his life
in Warm Springs are part of the experience. gastateparks.org/
littlewhitehouse.
Plains
The National Park Service oversees the Jimmy Carter
National Historical Park, an area that encompasses the
39th president's boyhood farm and the town's railroad depot,
which doubled as his campaign headquarters for the 1976
presidential election.
The high school that both Carter and his wife, Rosalynn,
attended is the site's museum, with a wealth of exhibits
chronicling the couple's lives before and after their time in
the White House.
From age 4 until he left for college, Carter lived in a onestory
homestead that sits on a two-lane street and across from
the train tracks at the edge of town. On the surrounding acreage,
the family grew corn, cotton, peanuts and sugar cane. The house
has been restored to the way it was before 1938, when electricity
was added.
The annual Plains Peanut Festival features live music, arts
and crafts vendors, a road race and a parade; this year's event
is scheduled for Sept. 24. Visitors can explore the historic areas,
check out the small shops and grab a bite in the Buffalo Cafe,
housed in the town's old bank. nps.gov/jica.
H.M. Cauley is an Atlanta-based freelance writer.
www.georgiamagazine.org
19
President Woodrow Wilson
lived in this Augusta home
for 10 years when he was a
child.
COURTESY HISTORIC AUGUSTA INC.
http://www.gastateparks.org/littlewhitehouse http://www.gastateparks.org/littlewhitehouse http://www.wilsonboyhoodhome.org http://www.nps.gov/jica http://www.georgiamagazine.org
Georgia Magazine - June 2022

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