June 2015: In planning a road trip to visit a high school classmate in Springfield Missouri, I discovered a few interesting things that were somewhat along the way and worth a couple of detours on my return to Dallas. This more than doubled my driving time home, but the experiences were time well spent. This was my first of three stops and the most convenient stop, just outside of Springfield.
George Washington Carver was born into slavery during The Civil War. After the war, Carver overcame social and economic challenges to earn a degree in botany and become a leader in agriculture education. While leading the Agriculture department at Tuskegee University, he promoted methods including crop rotation which helped farmers across the country. He also invented other uses for those crops, most famously for peanuts. The National Monument is located at his birth place and includes artifacts from many locations from his life.
George Washington Carver Bust
This photo of Carver is one of the many exhibits on site
A bust depicting Carver’s childhood. He would often meditate near a stream on the property
The home where his caretakers lived. Carver would sometimes stay here when he returned to visit
Do you stop to see historical places during your road trips? What did you get to see?
