327 LINCOLN COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

103-Year-Old Towry Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The Towry Farm in Lincoln 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 MTSU campus.
Located eight miles southwest of Fayetteville, the Towry Farm was founded by George Higgins Towry in 1904. Married to Elizabeth Hopkins Towry, the couple had seven children. The family raised row crops, dairy cattle and beef cattle.
Wiley Kelby Towry acquired his parents’ farm in 1939. He and his wife, Inez Washburn Towry, had sons Wayne and Weldon. This generation continued to raise livestock and a variety of crops.
“As on many Century Farms, a school once stood on this farm and there was also a sorghum mill,” Hankins said.
In 1992, the grandson of the founder, Jerry Weldon Towry, acquired the property. Today, he continues to work the land and raises horses, beef cattle and row crops as did his ancestors over a century ago.
Hankins said the Towry Farm joins 21 other certified Century Farms in Lincoln County.
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.
“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.

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