Final full day of adventure and starting to make my way north towards home. I have crossed over from Arkansas to Oklahoma and now into Missouri, and the next stop at George Washington Carver National Monument has been on my list for quite some time as I find his life and accomplishments both impressive and fascinating.
The visitor center and museum are full of many excellent exhibits and plenty of signs to read that cover Carver’s entire life story and his accomplishments.
Be sure to see the 28-minute film Struggle and Triumph: The Legacy of George Washington Carver (you can also view it on the NPS site by clicking the link here, it is very much worth the watch).
There was one printed handout/card titled “Eight Cardinal Virtues” which is a reprinted letter sent by Carver expressing his appreciation to his students for a fountain pen he received as a Christmas present. If you learn nothing else from my feeble blog post today, read this for a small glimpse into who Carver was and the beliefs he embraced. Visiting this site in October 2024 as our election cycle is coming to a fevered climax, it was quite the stark contrast to the loud orange-faced twat that somehow won. I reflected on this for quite some time and at the very end, Carver’s words and life give solace that no matter how many terrible and evil men try to burn the world, the seeds of positivity and progress can always grow if given some care and attention.
Carver was most famous for coming up with methods to improve soils depleted from repeated planting of cotton crops by growing alternative crops such as peanuts and sweet potatoes. From that work, he came up with over 300 uses and products of peanuts that helped improve the lives of many farmers in the south.
Born into slavery in the early 1860’s Carver had to deal with challenges in the segregation era where school wasn’t a basic option like it is today. He had to move around, witnessed deaths due to racism, and left Missouri for Kansas where he graduated high school. He would again be turned away in Kansas on basis of race and moved to Iowa.There he became not only the first Black student at Iowa State, he earned his bachelors and masters, and then became the first Black faculty member in the school’s history. Booker T. Washington then invited him to be head of the Agriculture Department at the Tuskegee Institute, and it was here that his scientific accomplishments grew and gained attention at the national levels. (I thoroughly apologize for my paraphrasing on the topic, there is just too much subject matter for a deep dive here; I encourage you to learn more about this history on your own!)
My personal favorite area was this section of displays called the Carver Discovery Area where you could listen to audio recordings of his speeches. Not pictured here are the many other interactive displays – a very engaging area for kids and adults alike where you will happily lose track of time.
A re-created lab classroom where Carver’s work came to life. I’m going to “borrow” from Wikipedia as they summarize far better than I could on this topic:
“Carver taught there for 47 years, developing the department into a strong research center and working with two additional college presidents during his tenure. He taught methods of crop rotation, introduced several alternative cash crops for farmers that would also improve the soil of areas heavily cultivated in cotton, initiated research into crop products (chemurgy), and taught generations of black students farming techniques for self-sufficiency.”
Don’t miss following the tour outdoors if weather permits. The 240-acre monument has a 3/4 mile nature trail that starts directly from the back observation deck that overlooks the prairie and woodlands. It allows you to see where Carver was born and lived as a young child, and where roots as “The Plant Doctor” originated.
The trail itself is quite accessible and mostly composed of well-graded gravel. It’s a very easy walk and shouldn’t be missed.
Heading in a counter-clockwise direction as I did, your first stop is at the stone bust of Carver that has an audio recording that plays when you press a button. I would suggest going clockwise instead as it more closely follows George’s life timeline starting at birth but either one is fine.
Next is the Carver Cemetery. The land was owned by Moses Carver – a slave owner, and later adoptive guardian of George Carver after his family died or was lost/kidnapped. The graves are family of Moses and Susan Carver and their neighbors, not relatives of George W. Carver (but some of them helped raise George W. and his brother). George W. Carver is not buried here himself.
A sign on this section of the trail quotes George W. Carver: “All my life I have risen regularly at four o’ clock and have gone into the woods and talked with God.” I’m not what you call religious, but I share the same feeling. Mother Nature is the closest thing I would have to a deity and it’s something we can see, touch, and feel every day.
There are some small bridges and boardwalks over marshy areas near the Carver Branch creek where the woods are most dense. This was about as much fall foliage as I saw on my trip and while it’s past peak was still very welcome. Without a doubt the autumn season is my favorite.
At the trail’s midpoint you will reach the Moses Carver house. This house didn’t exist when George lived on the plantation; it was built at a later time to replace two other cabins. It also wasn’t originally built here, it was moved here later in 1916. George did later return to visit Moses and Susan carver and the house remains as the only building in the park connected to George W. Carver.
The familiar (to me) eastern gray squirrels are busy today preparing for the coming winter. Did this squirrel know George W. Carver? No, but I think George would be happy that I’m taking notice of such a creature and his surroundings. So enjoy this squirrel.
Some places on the creek get larger and some are barely perceptible. The Carver Branch is bigger, I think; the Williams Branch shows as smaller on the map but runs directly next to the Carver House.
The Williams Pond never existed when George was here; it was created later by property owners in 1931 who dammed the creek to create the pond.
I’m not sure this turtle minds about the pond not being here naturally as he suns on an exposed moss-covered log.
Neither does this autumn meadowhawk dragonfly who is also gathering sun and all the bugs he can eat.
On the final crossing of Carver Branch and very near to the natural Carver Spring that feeds the creek is the “Boy Carver Statue“, a monument to his love and respect for plants and nature that grew from this area.
A Familiar Bluet damselfly sunning on a leaf nearby allowed me to do my best impression of Carver reflecting on and respecting the natural wonders that are all around.
And finally the last stop on the trail is at the George Washington Carver birthplace site. The original cabin does not exist, only some boards arranged to represent the original 14-by-14 foot structure. George’s mother Mary gave birth to him here as a slave owned by Moses Carver. When he was only a week old, raiders from Arkansas kidnapped him, his mother, and his sister as they could find no other valuables to steal. Moses asked a local Union scout, John Bentley, to recover them but he could only recover a sickly George.
A few final glimpses of autumn in the remaining tree leaves. I would highly recommend anyone to visit this site, it is one of the best monuments I have visited thus far and George W. Carver’s story is nothing short of incredible.
Hiking Data
Map of my hike on the short nature trail. Noticed after the fact that I missed the small loop around the pond, at the time I didn’t even see a path there (or I was oblivious to it while watching turtles and dragonflies).
Total distance with my walking back-and-forth chasing animals and insects was 0.85 miles and as you can see there is no elevation change at all. Unless it’s tornadoes or blizzards don’t miss it.
