This Virginia Tobacco Farm Produced America’s Most Influential Black Educator From a One-Room Slave Cabin

Booker T. Washington’s Birth Site, Virginia

Booker T. Washington entered the world on April 5, 1856, in Franklin County, Virginia. His half-brother found this date recorded in a family Bible after Washington’s death.

Jane, his mother, worked as the plantation cook among 10-11 slaves owned by James Burroughs.

A plantation inventory from 1861 listed five-year-old Washington as “1 negro boy (Booker)” worth $400, categorized alongside farm equipment.

This is his remarkable story, along with how you can visit this historic site in Virginia.

The Small Log Cabin Kitchen

Washington lived in a one-room log cabin that doubled as the plantation kitchen, which you’ll be able to see at the site.

No glass filled the window openings, letting cold air blow through during winter months. He slept on rags spread across the dirt floor.

Jane, valued at just $250 because her childbearing years had ended, shared this space with her three children.

Washington described these quarters as “miserable, desolate, and discouraging surroundings” in his autobiography.

Daily Life as a Young Slave

Washington performed plantation chores starting at age five. He carried water from a creek at the bottom of the hill multiple times daily.

Once strong enough, he fanned flies from the dining table during Burroughs family meals.

This task placed him in the main house but only as a servant, unable to sit or eat with the family.

Such experiences taught him early lessons about the division between slave and master.

The Burroughs Family Farm

James Burroughs owned 207 acres with his wife Elizabeth and ten of their fourteen children.

They grew tobacco as their main cash crop, along with corn and wheat for food. Everyone worked the fields, including Burroughs and his sons alongside the slaves.

James died in 1861 when Washington turned five, leaving Elizabeth to manage the plantation through the Civil War.

Washington’s Mother Jane

Jane cooked two or three meals daily for everyone on the plantation. She butchered meat, cleaned poultry, and preserved food for winter while caring for three children.

Burroughs brought Jane from Bedford County to Franklin County in 1850 when he purchased the land.

Sometimes at night, Jane woke her children to feed them chicken she cooked, taken from the plantation stock.

The First Longing for Education

Young Washington carried the Burroughs daughter’s books to school but couldn’t enter the building.

Virginia law prohibited educating slaves, fearing literacy would spark rebellion.

Washington wrote that getting into a schoolhouse “would be about the same as getting into paradise.”

The Day Freedom Came

A Union soldier stood on the main house porch to read the Emancipation Proclamation to gathered slaves.

The Burroughs family watched from the veranda, faces showing sadness about parting with people they had raised.

Washington witnessed this historic moment at nine years old, not fully grasping how it would change his life.

The Family’s Reaction to Freedom

Washington observed what he called “wild scenes of ecstasy” after the proclamation reading. His mother kissed her children, tears streaming down her face, explaining this day fulfilled her prayers.

Departure from the Plantation

Washington’s family left within months of gaining freedom in April 1865.

They journeyed to Malden, West Virginia to join Jane’s husband, Washington Ferguson, who had escaped during the war and found work in the salt furnaces.

The Legacy Begins

Washington enrolled in his first school for freed people in West Virginia. He worked in salt mines starting at 4:00 AM to attend school later each day.

Fellow coal mine workers told him about Hampton Institute, inspiring his 500-mile journey on foot.

At Hampton, he worked as janitor to pay for education, beginning his path toward founding Tuskegee Institute.

Visiting Booker T. Washington’s Birth Site

Find the birthplace at 12130 Booker T. Washington Highway, Hardy, Virginia 24101. The site opens daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

Admission costs nothing. A visitor center contains exhibits and a film about Washington’s life.

Follow the quarter-mile Plantation Trail to see reconstructed 1850s farm buildings and the slave cabin replica.

Read More from This Brand:

• Thomas Jefferson Spent 40+ Years Building This Mountaintop Mansion That’s Now on Every Nickel
• The Beloved Plantation House Where George Washington Lived, Worked, and Eventually Died
• The Final Handshake That Reunited America Happened in This Virginia Village Frozen in Time