330 ROBERTSON COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

Strickland Place Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The Strickland Place Farm in Robertson 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.
In 1903, Henry C. Strickland established a farm that is located three miles west of White House. Along with his wife, Susie Eidson Strickland, they had one child, Mary Elizabeth Strickland Ford Pepper. On 110 acres, the farm produced tobacco, corn, fruit and Black Angus cattle.
During the late 1920s, Henry built a country store named Strickland Mercantile that sold a wide variety of goods including groceries, tools, radios, refrigerators and even automobiles. While managing the farm and store, Henry, his daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law Winsor Ford also developed an airstrip on the farm and flew airplanes. According to the family, they would take community members on flights on Sunday afternoons for 50 cents.
Elizabeth’s husband, Winsor, and their only child died in 1938. Eventually, Elizabeth married Robert L. Pepper and they had a son named Wesley. Elizabeth became the owner of the farm in 1954. In 1955, Wesley Pepper, grandson of the founder, acquired the property.
Over the years, the farm produced tobacco, hay, Black Angus cattle and supported a poultry business. During the 1950s, the Strickland’s Mercantile was sold. Although the business no longer existed, Wesley and his son David Pepper kept the memory of the store alive by refurbishing the old corncrib on the farm into a replica of the store with merchandise and furnishings from the original store. Per the family, the store has been visited by local groups and tourists.
In 1996, Wesley sold part of the property, including the 1914 house built by the founder, to son, David. Since that time, David and wife Carolyn have restored the house, which is a rare example of molded and rusticated concrete.
Hankins said that today, “Hay is the main crop produced on Strickland Place, which is the 29th certified Tennessee Century Farm in Robertson 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, 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, or obtain jpeg images of this farm for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.