{"nrhp_refnum":"66000834","name":"Booker T. Washington National Monument","other_names":["Burroughs Plantation"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"15 mi. E of Rocky Mount on VA 122","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rocky Mount","county":"Franklin (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.113834292000064,"lon":-79.7333510867754,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Black","Education","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 223.93-acre federally owned site in Franklin County, Virginia, the former Burroughs tobacco plantation where Booker T. Washington was born in 1856. It now operates as a museum and living historical farm with replica buildings, cemeteries and historic road traces.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the site matters because it was the birthplace and boyhood home of Booker T. Washington, not because of the Burroughs ownership. Washington was an unrivaled figure in Black education, race relations, politics and business, and founded Tuskegee Institute and the National Negro Business League. Only the cemeteries and two historic road traces survive from his period.","narrative":"Booker T. Washington National Monument occupies about 224 acres in Franklin County, Virginia, on the former Burroughs tobacco plantation where Washington was born into slavery in 1856. James and Elizabeth Burroughs bought the land in 1850 and 1854, growing tobacco, corn and wheat with ten enslaved people, including Washington's mother, Jane, who cooked in the kitchen cabin where he was born. Later owners altered or removed most buildings, and the main house burned in 1950. Today the site operates as a living historical farm with replica cabins, barns and pens, along with a museum, trails, a visitor center and cemeteries. Only the Burroughs and Sparks cemeteries and traces of two historic roads date from Washington's years here. The listing rests on the property's role as the birthplace and boyhood home of Washington, a leading educator and the founder of Tuskegee Institute and the National Negro Business League.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular log construction","criteria":[],"status_note":"Operated as a museum and living historical farm. Most buildings are interpretive replicas; the original Burroughs house burned in 1950.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.796475-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/62/6807/41680762/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/66000834.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000834/affdc9a43d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000834/affdc9a43d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"National Park Service Digital Image Archives","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Booker_T._Washington_National_Monument_BOWA0685.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">National Park Service Digital Image Archives</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Booker_T._Washington_National_Monument_BOWA0685.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680762","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington_National_Monument","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q628746"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/franklin/booker-t-washington-national-monument-66000834/"}