Plains community expects big crowds will come to town after Jimmy Carter’s death
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Death of former President Jimmy Carter
The peanut farmer from Georgia was a virtual unknown when he launched his long-shot 1976 presidential bid that took him from “Jimmy Who?” to his inauguration as the nation’s 39th president.
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A floral gift shop owner and some peanut company employees made last-minute preparations for big crowds expected at their businesses just a half-mile from former President Jimmy Carter’s ranch home hours after he died Sunday afternoon.
The town was quiet as usual Sunday evening as officers with the city of Plains Police Department and Sumter County Sheriff’s Office patrolled the area on their regularly scheduled shift around 7 p.m.
Police Sgt. Jacob Howell warned of heavy traffic over the coming days, similar to what happened when Rosalynn Carter died in November 2023.
”The locals panicked, thinking they were going to get flooded out,” Howell said. “It’s going to take a few days for the federal side to get everything worked out.”
The police department and sheriff’s office had not received special assignments related to Carter’s death as of Sunday night, according to Howell. He expected greater Secret Service presence to trickle into the city by Monday.
Employees at the Buffalo Peanut Company on Main and South Bond streets, which used to own warehouses shared on the same parcel as the Carter family, set up barricades Sunday afternoon around their parking lot to try to keep visitors out.
Jilliann Williams, co-owner of Plains Sweet Stems on Main Street, planned to head to bed early until she learned Carter died.
”I’ve been just super lazy all day and then it’s just like, bam!” Williams said.
The 40-year-old and her daughter rushed to their shop to unload and restock boxes of red, white and blue t-shirts with a peanut that read, “Plains, Georgia. Home of Jimmy Carter.”
Williams canceled plans to go flower shopping Monday morning, and instead, will likely open shop a few hours early in anticipation of Jimmy Carter admirers.
”I know he definitely impacted a tremendous amount of lives,” Williams said. “It’s a serious time in Plains right now.”
She recalled backed up streets after Rosalynn Carter’s death, in the normally quiet town of only around 500 people.
While Jimmy Carter was in hospice for nearly two years, Williams said there was no way to prepare for this moment, and the long days ahead.
“You kind of expect it, and then you don’t,” Williams, who lives about 20 minutes from the shop, said. “You just pray and move along. Here we are.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
