Billy Carter’s Service Station in Plains, Georgia

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Billy Carter, Jimmy’s younger brother, owned the service station across the railroad tracks from the main business district of Plains, Georgia. Billy was the most colorful character in the Carter family and often an embarrassment to the President. He played up his role as a small-town-redneck-clown-prince who loved to drink beer, the type of character you’d expect to see in a Smoky and the Bandit film. He made and lost a good deal of money during his fifteen minutes of fame. While often portrayed as a buffoon by the press, his mother Lillian said he was the smartest of all her children, which is saying a lot because Jimmy Carter is pretty damn smart.

Billy is probably best known for his Billy Beer. During the election campaign, thousands of people were in Plains every day. Billy would bring in truckloads of his beer to his gas station and would sell every last case. While he promoted it, he had no hand in its brewing and eventually admitted that it was so bad that you’d have to be an alcoholic to like it. His beer of choice was Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Billy Beer Can

The gas station standing today is actually a replica of the original station, which was torn down years ago. It now serves as a private museum full of Billy memorabilia. When I stopped in there was nobody there to run the place, so it seems to be a self-serve museum. There was a donation box, but no official entrance fee. Supposedly it is owned by Billy’s family and the Plains Better Hometown Association.