Booker T. Washington National Monument

Located approximately sixty miles southwest of Lynchburg near Smith Mountain Lake, Booker T. Washington National Monument preserves the birthplace and early childhood home of educator and leader Booker T. Washington. The site interprets life on a mid-19th-century tobacco farm where Washington was born into slavery in 1856. Visitors can explore the reconstructed plantation landscape, historic buildings, exhibits, a living history farm, and walking trails that illustrate daily life on the Burroughs Plantation. The monument offers educational programs and interpretive experiences focused on Washington’s legacy, emancipation, and the history of the enslaved community who lived and worked on the property.