192 CLAIBORNE COUNTY FARM JOINS RANKS OF STATE’S CENTURY FARMS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 19, 2007
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

CLAIBORNE COUNTY FARM JOINS RANKS OF STATE’S CENTURY FARMS
100-Year-Old Nelson Campbell Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The Nelson Campbell Farm in Claiborne 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 1907, Nelson Campbell founded an 80-acre farm located north of Tazewell. Married to Martha Lewis, the couple had 12 children. On the farm they raised tobacco, corn, wheat, hay, dairy cattle, hogs and horses.
The next generation to own the farm was the founder’s son, Barton Campbell, who acquired the land in 1921. During his ownership, the farm produced tobacco, corn, hay and cattle. Married to Maggie Hargraves Campbell, they had two children, Billy and Lillian.
Billy Campbell, grandson of the founders, acquired the property in 1993. Billy and wife Eleanor Johnson Campbell and their son, Barry Shane, currently own and live on the 40-acre farm, where the original barn and corncrib remain in use. The family grew tobacco until 2006, but now raise hay and cattle.
Hankins said the Nelson Campbell Farm is the 31st Tennessee Century Farm to be certified in Claiborne 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 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 the farm’s owners, or to obtain jpegs for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.