[448]STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES PUTNAM COUNTY FARM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 19, 2008
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES PUTNAM COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Quarles-Phillips Farm Becomes County’s Newest and 7th Designated Century Farm

(MURFREESBORO)—The Quarles-Phillips Farm in Putnam County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reported Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms Program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
The Quarles family traces its settlement in the area to William Pennington Quarles, a Revolutionary War veteran who founded the community of White Plains in 1809. A Cookeville chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution is named for this early settler. In 1892, descendent William Braxton Quarles founded a farm of nearly 70 acres in the Algood community. Married to Selia Ann White, the couple was the parents of seven children: Columbus, Hickman, Belle, Dollie, John, William and James. The family raised corn, hay, vegetables gardens and dairy cattle. In 1916, the children inherited the farm and continued the same type of agricultural operation
The third generation to own the farm was the founder’s grandson, Roy C. Phillips. Roy was the son of Dollie Quarles and Henry Phillips, and he bought out the remaining heirs in 1974. While the farm acreage remained the same, he expanded the variety of crops by adding tobacco and sorghum cane. In addition, he raised goats, hogs and beef cattle.
When Roy passed away in 2004, his three children, Roy Harrell Phillips, Frieda Nelle Phillips Denny and Rodger David Phillips inherited the property. Today, Rodger and his wife and son live on the farm. Currently, Rodger works the land and raises hay, corn, and beef cattle. The house built by the founder in 1892 still stands as a reminder of the more than 100 years of ownership and farm production on this family farm.
“The Quarles-Phillips Farm is the seventh Century Farm to be certified in Putnam County,” 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 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 owner or request a jpeg of this Century Farm, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.