144 JEFFERSON COUNTY FARM JOIN S STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 23, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

Bruce Farm 16th in County to be Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The Bruce Farm in Jefferson 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 MTSU campus.
William B. Bruce bought 90 acres north of Dandridge in 1891. With his wife, Elvira Gibson, and their three children, Kelly, Carrie and Ora, the family produced hay, tobacco, and corn as primary crops.
Carrie and Kelly became the second-generation owners of the family farm. Carrie married A. P. Zumble and they had three children, Helen, Elise and Elaine. The farm passed through another generation and the family continued to produce many of the same crops.
In 1963 Daniel B. Churchman, the great-grandson of the founder, acquired the farm. Today, he and wife Dolores live on the farm and mainly grow hay and tobacco.
A smokehouse and washhouse are some of the reminders of earlier generations on the Bruce Farm that joins 15 other certified Century Farms in Jefferson County, Hankins said.
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 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 says, “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.
—30—

• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To request an interview with the owners of this farm, please contact the Center for Historic Preservation at 615-898-2947.