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National Peanut Capital of the World

Peanuts in Dothan 

“The Peanut Man” - George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was ahead of his time in the development of renewable resources. Born into slavery, he went on to develop hundreds of uses for agricultural products, particularly peanuts. A teacher encouraged him to leave his art classes and transfer to Iowa State College, where his eagerness to learn led him to study botany. Leaving Iowa to work with Booker T. Washington, Carver became the head of the agriculture department at the Tuskegee Institute. His work developing educational extension programs, particularly those encouraging crop rotation, helped sharecroppers and poor farmers improve their economic standing. His celebrity led him to be known as “The Peanut Man.” After his teaching career, he was a mentor and father figure to many black students. A six-foot monument salutes Dr. Carver at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds in Dothan.

Peanuts With Personality

Colorful four-foot peanut sculptures, each with their own unique personalities, can be found in front of businesses, restaurants, inside museums, in green spaces, on street corners and in parks across Dothan. Local artists have decorated them in different themes, including the Elvis “Hunk of Burning Love” statue, the memorial to “The Peanut Man” who sold boiled peanuts on the same corner for years, the Paper Boy, and the four statues representing the armed forces. The Downtown Peanut is dressed like a Southern gentleman, pointing the way to restaurants and shops in his view. Known as a premier Alabama Public Art Project, you’ll see more than 65 peanuts as you travel around Dothan. A location map of the statues can be found on the Dothan CVB website. Printed copies are available at the Dothan Visitors Center.

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