444 BLOUNT COUNTY FARM JOIN RANKS OF STATE’S CENTURY FARMS

197-Year-Old Warpath Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 21, 2006
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

PROGRAM

(MURFREESBORO)—The Warpath Farm in Blount County recently was designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP), which is located on the campus of MTSU.
Just six miles south of Maryville is Warpath Farm, which was established in 1809 by Robert Wilson, an Irish immigrant who came to America through Delaware and then moved into Pennsylvania. Robert secured land grants in upper East Tennessee, as did many other early settlers. However, he sold these holdings and moved to Blount County and settled in an area around Nine Mile Creek, where—along with wife Ann Gould and their seven children—he raised cattle, horses, hogs and corn.
The next owner of the farm was Robert’s grandson, James Lane Wilson. Under his ownership, a log house, a barn, a smokehouse and cellar were built. He and wife Rebecca Jane Kerr had six children. As time moved on, their son, William Thomas Wilson, became the owner of the land. In 1913, William gave land and lumber to build the Centenary Baptist Church.
During the 1950s, William discovered large deposits of high-grade iron ore on the property and formed a partnership with Shird Franklin to mine the ore. The mining operation ran from 1957 until 1961 and was known as the Big Spring Mining Company. According to the family, a large rock washer was constructed at the Big Flat Spring on the property and thousands of tons of ore were separated and washed from the dirt and rock. The iron ore was hauled by truck to the rail station in the Greenback community and was shipped to Rockwood, Tenn.
In addition to the rock washer, a large dam was constructed along the bank of Centenary Creek to collect the sediment from the ore. This area is now a very productive fescue and clover pasture that provides high quality forage for the farm’s beef cattle operation, Hankins reported.
In 1999, the great-great-granddaughter of the founder, Jean Wilson Hearon, acquired 62 acres of the original farm founded in 1809. Today, Jean’s husband, Sterling, and their son, Dennis, work the farm, where they raise Registered Polled Herefords, hay and beef cattle.
Warpath Farm is the 29th farm in Blount County to be certified as a Tennessee Century Farm, Hankins noted.


About the Tennessee Century Farm Program

The Tennessee Century Farm Program, now 30 years old, recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee. There are more than 1,000 Century Farms across the state and all 95 counties are represented.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural, and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.