The George Washington Carver National Monument celebrates the life and home of George Washington Carver, an important antebellum academic who was born a slave in Missouri.
Directly outside the visitor center, which includes a museum with interactive exhibits about Carver's life, a 1-mile self-guided loop trail passes through woodlands, crosses a stream over wooden bridges, and continues through tallgrass prairie before returning to the visitor center. Through the loop you will find the place where Carver was born (the cabin was destroyed during a tornado), the statue of Carver as a boy, the Carver family house built in 1881, and the family cemetery, as well as wildlife (beavers, turtles, and even snakes) and wildflowers. Although the trail is short in distance, it is relaxed and beautiful.
George Washington Carver was born enslaved to Moses and Susan Carver around 1864. As an infant, George and his mother were kidnapped, but only George was found and returned back to the farm. As a young child he started collecting flowers and insects and loved learning new things. Carver eventually mastered chemistry, botany, mycology, music, herbalism, art, cooking, and massage. He obtained a bachelor's and master's degree in agriculture and was later known as "the Peanut Man" after having discovered over 300 uses for peanuts. He included peanuts in helping enrich crop soil, cultivation techniques, recipes for nutritious meals, and even to help treat polio patients with massage therapy and peanut rubbing oil.
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