242 TROUSDALE COUNTY FARM JOINS CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 29, 2007
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

State Recognizes 139-Year-Old Terry Farm for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)— The Terry Farm in Trousdale County has been 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.
Located three miles from Hartsville, the Terry Farm that was established by George T. Terry Sr. in January 1868. On 255 acres, the Terry family, including his wife Elizabeth and five children, raised hay, tobacco, corn, cattle, hogs and mules. The old Providence School and Presbyterian Church were located on this farm.
In 1901, George’s son, Goodall Terry, acquired the farm. During his ownership, he gave Trousdale County a plot of land for the new Providence school. Goodall married Sidney Terry and they had one child named George D. Terry.
Eventually, the land was passed to George and his wife Edna Mae Terry. While managing the farm, George served as a county road superintendent and he built a shop on the land for storing county road equipment. Edna’s nephew, Quindy Robertson, and her niece, Connie Robertson Massey, were next to inherit the land.
In 2001, Connie and husband Joe Massey became the owners of the farm. Today, Joe works the land that mainly produces hay and cattle. A farmhouse and a round-top barn with a basement, built in 1948, and the county road equipment shop that was built by George Terry in 1949 remain on the property.
The Tennessee 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, the same family must own a farm
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, or to read about the histories of Gibson County farms as well as others across Tennessee, please visit its Web site at 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.




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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview Hankins or the farm’s owners, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.