Carter Hometown Now a Historic Site
President Reagan signed Wednesday legislation creating a national historic site in former President Jimmy Carter’s hometown of Plains, Ga.
The law authorizes the National Park Service to spend up to $3.5 million to “preserve the key sites and structures associated with Jimmy Carter during his lifetime, to provide for the interpretation of his life and presidency and to present the history of a small Southern town.”
It creates a 650-acre national preservation district in and around Plains and authorizes the National Park Service to acquire, by donation or purchase, preservation easements on historically or culturally significant buildings or open spaces in the area.
Legislation creating a Carter historic site was first introduced in Congress in 1983 by Rep. Richard Ray, a Democrat from Perry, Ga., whose district includes Plains.
The Carters have agreed to donate their home, and a trust is raising money to buy Carter’s boyhood home.
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