George Washington Carver National Monument

George Washington Carver National Monument
Visitor center
Map showing the location of George Washington Carver National Monument
Map showing the location of George Washington Carver National Monument
Map showing the location of George Washington Carver National Monument
Map showing the location of George Washington Carver National Monument
LocationNewton County, Missouri, US
Nearest cityDiamond, Missouri
Coordinates36°59′11″N 94°21′15″W / 36.986361°N 94.354191°W / 36.986361; -94.354191
Area240 acres (97 ha)[1]
AuthorizedJuly 14, 1943 (1943-July-14)
Visitors46,397 (in 2016)[2]
Governing bodyNational Park Service
WebsiteGeorge Washington Carver National Monument
George Washington Carver National Monument
Nearest cityDiamond, Missouri
Area240 acres (97 ha)
NRHP reference No.66000114[3]
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966

George Washington Carver National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service in Newton County, Missouri. The national monument was founded on July 14, 1943, by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who dedicated $30,000 to the monument. It was the first national monument dedicated to an African American and first to a non-president.[4]

The site preserves the boyhood home of George Washington Carver, as well as the 1881 Moses Carver house and the Carver cemetery. His boyhood home consists of rolling hills, woodlands, and prairies.[4] The 240-acre (97 ha) park has a 3⁄4-mile (1.2 km) nature trail, film, museum, and an interactive exhibit area for students.

The park is two miles west of Diamond along Missouri Route V and approximately ten miles southeast of Joplin.[5]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.[3]

A statue of Carver as a child stands along a one-mile trail loop.
The visitor center includes a classroom modeled after one of the Carver's labs at the Tuskegee Institute.
  1. ^ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved May 14, 2012. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
  2. ^ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  3. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. ^ a b Richard I. Ortega (April 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: George Washington Carver National Monument" (PDF). Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved January 1, 2017. (includes 2 photographs from 1975)
  5. ^ Missouri Atlas & Gazetteer, DeLorme, 1998, First edition, p. 60 ISBN 0-89933-224-2