145 STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES HAYWOOD COUNTY FARM

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES HAYWOOD COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
131-Year-Old Pineyhill Farm 15th Century Farms in County, Hankins Confirms

(MURFREESBORO)—The Pineyhill Farm in Haywood 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 1876, Joshua A. Jones purchased land in the northeast corner of Haywood County from A. C. Shaw and established a farm. Three years later, he obtained an adjacent section of property from B. M. Williamson. Together, the land totaled 138 acres.
Married to Nancy Wallace Jones, the couple was parents to Mary, William, John, Francis, Joseph and James. The family raised corn and cotton as primary crops. Their eldest son, William B. Jones, continued with these main crops where he acquired the property in 1907. He and his wife, Sallie Warren Jones, had three children, Alma Grace, Fannie Bess and Lurline.
In 1954, the land was divided into two sections. Lurline Jones owned the northern section and Georgia W. Elizer owned the southern section, the only child of Alma. While Lurline managed the farm, she was also active in the Home Demonstration Club during the 1950s and ‘60s. Georgia and her husband, James T. Elizer, had two children, Grace and Warren, who were active 4-H Club members. In 1977, Grace won the national honors for public speaking, while Warren received national recognition for his photography in 1981.
In 1987, Lurline passed away and Georgia assumed the total ownership of all the land. Today, Georgia and James manage the property that is devoted to pines, hardwoods, and warm season grasses.
Pineyhill is the 15th Haywood County farm to receive certification as a Tennessee Century Farm, 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 CHP 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 to secure a jpeg for editorial use of the farm’s founders, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.