Near Hardy, Virginia, this National Park Service site preserves part of the tobacco plantation where Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on April 5, 1856, and interprets the landscape that shaped his earliest years. Covering 224 acres, it uses buildings, gardens, crafts, and farm animals to evoke the labor and conditions of 1850s chattel slavery and farm life. Its establishment was partly funded through the Booker T. Washington Memorial half dollar, the first U.S. coin to feature an African American, though Virginia ultimately helped complete the purchase. Designated a national monument in 1956, it also reflects Washington’s later significance as a leading African American educator and leader.