Billy Carter (1937-1988) bought this station from Mill Jennings in 1971 and owned it until 1981. During Jimmy Carter’s campaign for President in 1976, it became famous as the headquarters for the national media while they were in Plains. He reminisced of those days: There were 20,000 tourists a day pouring into Plains right after Jimmy’s election. Cars would be bumper-to-bumper for about 10 miles, from Americus to Plains. Highway 280 looked like a Los Angeles freeway. At the height of the station’s popularity 2,000 cases of beer and between 40,000 to 50,000 gallons of gas were sold every month.
Billy was a character and often got as much press coverage as his brother. He was perhaps best known, though, for his infamous Billy Beer. His endorsement didn’t go far to save the brew, which many said was the worst they’d ever tasted. Cans of Billy Beer can be seen in the service station, which is now a free museum. A pair of Hee-Haw overalls Billy wore are also in the collection, as well as numerous magazine covers and press clippings.
Thanks for the efforts here to preserve the memories of a bygone era. I attended the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival (also called Byron) and published my Master’s Thesis “Southern Fried Woodstock: The 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival” at Western Washington University in 2006. Keep up the good work here!
I’d love to see that thesis, Ed. I’ve always been fascinated by that event myself. Thanks for the kind words.
Is there a PDF of it? I couldn’t find one.