506 COCKE COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947.

109-Year-Old Pitts Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The Pitts Farm in Cocke 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 Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).
In 1897, R. C. Pitts purchased land that was originally a part of the Boyer Farm from Jefferson and Florence Boyer Hurley. Not long after, R. C. moved his wife Sirentha Collett Potts and their four children to a small sparse house on the property.
Prior to purchasing the land, R. C. worked as a railroad foreman and moved his family to places such as Strawberry Plains, Tenn., and Marshall, N.C.
According to CHP records, R. C. remained on the farm for a year before he returned to work on the railroad line that was being constructed from Newport into North Carolina and into southeast Tennessee. Sirentha continued to live on the farm with her children during the time that R. C. was away. She managed the farm and with her children grew corn, hay, vegetables and fruit orchards. To be as self-sufficient as possible, they also raised swine, chickens and dairy cows. However, per the family, R. C. never returned to the farm and his children, primarily sons Porter and Lloyd, were taught to farm by Dave Hawk, a neighbor.
In 1917 after his marriage to Cora Gregg, Porter was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in France and Belgium during World War I. During the war, Cora lived on the farm with Sirentha. After the war, Porter returned home and began farming the land. In 1920, Sirentha died and R. C., who was living in Virginia at the time, transferred his ownership of the farm to his four children.
Not long after, Porter and Cora purchased the other siblings’ shares and became the sole owners of the farm. They cultivated corn, hay, tobacco, wheat, tomatoes and vegetables. In addition, they raised beef and dairy cattle, swine, chickens and geese. While he raised livestock and crops, Porter also made some improvements by expanding the orchard, originally planted by Sirentha, and building a large pond on the property that was stocked with catfish.
Porter also sold fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, butter and eggs to families in the town of Newport. Cora worked alongside her husband and canned and preserved fruits and vegetables and made fresh butter and cottage cheese for the family. According to the family, Porter also sold cream to Sugar Creek Creamery and milk to Pet Milk Company. Porter continued to work the land until his death in November 1986. After her husband’s death, Cora continued to raise beef cattle and hay until her death in 1989.
In 1989, Dorothy Geraldine Pitts Hughes and Eugene Fulton Pitts, the grandchildren of the founder, acquired the land. One year later, they sold the farm to Dorothy’s sons, Charles Douglas Hughes, Grady Edward Hughes and Gordon Dale Hughes.
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Today, the trio of brothers owns the land and raises hay and beef cattle on the farm. The farm has many buildings that date before 1950, including the farmhouse, which “sits on a gentle slope with large old maple tress planted by Sirentha Pitts” in the early part of the last century.
Also on the farm is a smokehouse, two chicken houses and a barn built in the 1920s that is used to store hay and shelter cattle. The Pitts Farm has a well-documented family history and joins five other certified Century Farms in Cocke County.
The Century Farm Program 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 to Century Farm families, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production,”
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,” said Hankins, “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.