Inside the tiny town of Plains where Rosalynn Carter’s funeral is being held – and where she was born and raised

• Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were both born in the Georgia town of 600 people
• Plains has become a sea of tributes to its most famous son and daughter 
• It will host Rosalynn’s funeral on November 29 – an invite-only ceremony 

Rosalynn Carter’s funeral is being held on Wednesday in the small town where she and her husband were born and raised.

The invite-only ceremony will take place in Plains, Georgia, at Maranatha Baptist Church, where the Carters have been members since returning to the state after Jimmy’s presidency.

The former first lady died age 96 on November 19, and a memorial service was held for her in nearby Atlanta on November 28. 

She will be buried after a private graveside service in a plot the couple of 77 years will share, visible from the front porch of the home they built before Jimmy Carter’s first political campaign in 1962. 

The pair first met while Rosalynn – then Eleanor Rosalynn Smith – was a newborn in 1927 in the town with a population of just 600 – which remains the case today.

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter’s death has meant that her home town of plains, Georgia, has become even more of a tribute to the famous family than it already was

Her invite-only funeral will take place in Plains, Georgia, at Maranatha Baptist Church (pictured), where the Carters have been members since returning to the state after Jimmy’s presidency

Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn – then-Smith – met when she was a newborn in the town of roughly 600 people. Pictured: the famous political couple in 2014

Rosalynn’s childhood home in the south of the town is now ordained with a street sign for ‘Rosalynn Carter Terrace’ (above)

Rosalynn Carter (pictured aged 12) was born on August 18, 1927

At the 2020 census, Plains had a population of just 573, and it is best known as the birthplace of the President and first lady who served form 1977 to 1981.

As a result, there are multiple tributes to the pair in the town, which have only multiplied since Rosalynn’s passing at her local home.

The town’s Christmas decorations were swiftly added to after she died with a touching memorial collage of pictures of her and her husband, complete with flowers laid at the base.

Maranatha Baptist Church stands on the north edge of Plains’ 0.8 square miles area, past the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, which covers the former politician’s high school building – now a museum – as well as his Boyhood Farm to the west.

The museum houses a replica Oval Office desk – the ‘Resolute desk’, which was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880 made from the oak timbers of the British ship H.M.S. Resolute.

It also hosts busts of the town’s most famous son and daughter, and has a notable ‘smiling peanut’ statue outside, which was made to support the local candidate during the 1976 presidential election, referring to his previous trade as a peanut farmer.

The to-be president was introduced to the profession by his father Earl Carter, who acquired the farm – which also cultivated corn, cotton and sugar cane – in 1928.

Peanut farming in the town began as an attempt to diversify Plains’ economy in light of the 1920s Great Depression, before which the area’s income was largely built around cotton.

As an established town, Plains was less than half a century old when the crash hit in 1929.

Three nearby settlements – Lebanon, Magnolia Springs and Plains of Dura – were consolidated into one village when a major railway was built through the region in 1885.

The to-be president (pictured in 1976) was brought into the peanut farming business by his father Earl Carter

Jimmy was brought up on Boyhood Farm (barn pictured) which harvested corn, cotton and sugar cane as well as peanuts

Plains is a sea of tributes to the former president and first lady. Including the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park which includes his former high school – now a museum containing a replica Oval Office desk (pictured)

The museum also busts of the town’s most famous son and daughter

Jimmy and Rosalynn met when Rosalynn was still in hospital as a newborn, introduced by their parents who were friends. They are pictured in an undated photo

Jimmy and Rosalynn built a house at 209 Woodland Drive (pictured) in 1960 to accommodate their growing family

The resident Carter and the Smith families were good friends at Rosalynn’s birth shortly before the financial crash on August 18, 1927.

Jimmy’s mother Lilian – who was a nurse delivering Rosalynn – brought her three-year-old son to meet a new friend while Allie Smith was still looking after her baby in hospital.

Rosalynn’s childhood home in the south of the town is now ordained with a street sign for ‘Rosalynn Carter Terrace’, and a commemorative board detailing her early life and career, including marrying Jimmy on July 7, 1946.

It reads: ‘Widely esteemed for her work to help all those in need, Rosalynn Carter will be remembered for her compassion and dedication to the well-being of people around the world.’ 

Jimmy and Rosalynn built a house at 209 Woodland Drive in 1960 to accommodate their growing family, which they have occupied since the year after it was constructed.

The Carters (above) have remained residents at their Plains home since 1961

Rosalynn’s old house is also marked by a commemorative board charting her life and career

She also inspired the town’s ‘Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail’ – a programme to help increase habitat for Monarch Butterflies

Rosalynn became a global figure whose ‘effort changed lives,’ her grandson Jason Carter said at her memorial service. 

She was her husbands closest political adviser as well as a political force in her own right, advocating for better mental health care in the U.S. and bringing attention to underappreciated caregivers in millions of her nation’s households.

She traveled to more than 120 countries as first lady and afterwards, concentrating on developing nations, where she helped fight against disease, famine and abuse of women and girls.

She also inspired the town’s ‘Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail’; a programme to help increase habitat for Monarch Butterflies which has expanded throughout the United States and internationally after its inception in Plains.

Her childhood portrait is shown outside shops on Plains’ Main Street.

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