Jess' Journeys // FDR's Little White House - Warm Springs, Georgia

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio at the age of 39, one of the few things that helped ease the pain was immersion in warm water. As the popular thing to do at that point in time for the well-to-do was to visit Georgia on vacations, he visited the city of Warm Springs in 1924, having no doubt heard about their natural springs. The resort he visited was not the greatest, but with a town boasting an 88-degree natural spring, how could he resist? He actually continued to visit the town every year (except 1942) from 1924 until his death in 1945.

Eventually, FDR bought the resort he had visited and turned it into the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation. Out of that same small Georgia town came the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, or as we know it today, The March of Dimes. These are just two of the amazing things to come out of FDR's life.

When you first visit the Little White House, you walk through a museum at the visitor center that details FDR's life, political career, and causes that he was involved in. While definitely educational, it's also really interesting. Did you know that he collected stamps? How about the way his car was customized to hide his disability? Trust me, don't rush through the museum.



FDR's Little White House was finally finished in 1932, a modest cottage in the woods, where you can still soak in the gorgeous Georgia landscape. In the main house, there is a living/dining room with wood paneled walls, modeled after the inside of the ship. To the right side of that main room, there is a bedroom for FDR's personal secretary and a small kitchen. To the left, you will find FDR's room, a bathroom, and Eleanor's bedroom.

The back of the house has a huge porch, shaped like the bow of a ship. If you look off of the porch, you can see the guard towers where secret servicemen would be posted during the President's visits.



So many things in the Little White House are still the same things that were there when FDR was visiting. The little things like Fala's (his dog) scratches on the front door are really great for reminding us of the real people and animals behind the history. In FDR's bedroom, you will find his actual desk that he used when he was staying there. In his bathroom, you can see the piece of wood he attached to the wall so that anything he dropped beside the bathtub would slide down so he could still reach it with his limited mobility.

The most striking things about this house are the somber things. On the wall in the kitchen, his cook Daisy Bonner notated "Daisy Bonner cook the 1st meal and the last one in this cottage for President Roosevelt". While he was seated in his favorite chair in the living room, having his portrait painted, the President had a massive stroke. He was carried to his bedroom, where he died later the same day. The chair and bed are both in the same place today that they were there. The unfinished portrait hangs in the Little White House's visitor center.







Side note: You will not find any pictures of me from this trip. Why? Well, I went on my birthday in August. Have you ever been outdoors in Georgia in August?