Nearest city Rocky Mount, Virginia NRHP Reference # 66000834 Area 80 ha Year built 1856 Established April 2, 1956 | Visitation 24,361 (2012) VLR # 033-0001 Phone +1 540-721-2094 Added to NRHP 15 October 1966 Management National Park Service | |
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Location Franklin County, Virginia, United States Website Booker T. Washington National Monument Address 12130 Booker T Washington Hwy, Hardy, VA 24101, USA Profiles | ||
Booker t washington national monument
The Booker T. Washington National Monument is a National Monument near Hardy, Franklin County, Virginia. It preserves portions of the 207-acre (0.90 km²) tobacco farm on which educator and leader Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on April 18, 1856. It provides interpretation of Washington's life and achievements, as well as interpretation of 1850s slavery and farming through the use of buildings, gardens, crafts and animals.
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Congress authorized a commemorative coin to fund the purchase of the site. This commemorative half dollar was the first US coin to feature an African American, and was minted from 1946 to 1951 at three different mints. 18 varieties of the coin were produced, and more than 1.5 million were sold (primarily to collectors). Yet, after the coin's production was finished, the BTW Commission owed more money than it had assets, and the Commonwealth of Virginia had to step in to provide funds to purchase the site.
The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 and designated a National Monument on April 2, 1956.