197 STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES CHEATHAM COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 27, 2007
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES CHEATHAM COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
140-Year-Old Johnson Farm Becomes County’s Latest Designated Century Farm

(MURFREESBORO, Tenn.)— The Johnson Farm in Cheatham 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 1867, John W. Johnson founded a 130-acre farm near Ashland City, where he and his family raised tobacco, corn, hay, cattle and hogs. Married to Harriette Stringfellow, the couple was parents to Lucy Ellen, Mary Ann, Ada Elizabeth, William, Hiram, Hardy, Nancy and John T.
In 1884, the founder’s son, Hardy Johnson, became the second generation to own the farm. During his ownership, the farm supported crops including corn, tobacco, hay and sweet potatoes, as well as an apple orchard. They also raised hogs and cattle. Hardy and wife Bettie Judd had six children—Earl, Lucile Johnson Hagewood, Lorelle Johnson Duke, Mildred Johnson Radford, Allea and Carl.
The widow of Earl Johnson, Myrtle Ruth Johnson, inherited the land in 1949. Today, Ruth lives on the farm with her daughter, Juanita Taylor, and her grandson, Terrill Taylor, along with Terrill’s wife, Susan, and their children. Ruth’s granddaughter, Pam, and her husband, Hal Bryant, along with son Will, also live on the property.
Currently, the farm produces corn, hay, pumpkins, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and cattle. The farm is managed by the family and worked by Juanita and Terrill Taylor.
Additionally, according to CHP records, the farm still has many historic buildings, including the original farmhouse that was built by Hardy Johnson in 1913, a tobacco barn built in the 1930s, a smokehouse built in 1913, and a large potato house dating from the 1920s.
Current owner Ruth Johnson advises that the acreage was once “Riverview Farm” in the early 1900s, but today the land that has been owned by Johnsons for 140 years goes by the family’s name.
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.
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“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.