[093]PROGRAM RECOGNIZES HENDERSON COUNTY FARMS FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

PROGRAM RECOGNIZES HENDERSON COUNTY FARMS FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Rhodes Farm, Meadow Brothers Farm Become County’s 6th & 7th Century Farms

(MURFREESBORO)—The Rhodes Farm and the Meadows Brothers Farm, both located in Henderson County, have been designated as Tennessee Century Farms, reported Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation on the MTSU campus.
• Located just south of Lexington, the Rhodes Farm was founded in 1900 by Thomas Neal Rhodes. Married to Beatrice, the couple had four children: H. L. “Hubert,” Nettie, Ella and Floyd. On 236 acres, the family produced cotton and corn. Thomas and Beatrice lived their entire married life on the farm and were buried in the Old Jacks Creek Cemetery in Henderson County.
In 1924, Thomas and Beatrice’s son, Hubert, became the owner of the land. He and wife Edna had five sons—Loyd, Howard, Gilbert, Carmon and Burl. The family’s main cash crops continued to be cotton and corn.
After Hubert’s death in 1959, Howard purchased the farm from the other heirs and became the sole owner of the farm. He and wife Opal were the parents of Bill and Carolyn. In 1985, Bill and Carolyn Rhodes Booth purchased the farm from Howard and Opal, though they gave them a life estate until their deaths, according to the family’s records.
Currently, the farm is worked and rented by Chris Grissom, who raises cotton, corn, wheat and soybeans on the acreage. A farmhouse that was constructed by Howard Rhodes in 1936 still stands, and Bill’s son, Robin Rhodes, who is the great-great-grandson of the founders, and wife Molly live in the house. Robin works for the Tennessee Farm Bureau.
Hankins said the Rhodes Farm, now 108 years old, is the sixth Century Farm to be certified in Henderson County.
• The Meadows Brothers Farm was founded in 1895 when T. J. Butler purchased 440 acres just east of Mifflin, where he grew cotton, corn and hay as well as swine and cattle. Over time, Butler increased his holdings to 1,800 acres as he purchased other farms in Henderson and Chester Counties. According to the family’s records, Butler gave each of his seven children 150 acres.
T. J.’s daughter, Callie, and her husband, John Jonas Meadows, had five children. On their portion of land, the family continued to raise the types of crops that had proved successful for the founding generation, Hankins noted.
The third generation to own the farm was their sons, Howard and Houston Meadows. Howard married Angeline King in 1925 and they had two sons, Edward Howard Jr. and John King. Six sharecroppers, along with the family, tended the farm until about 1980. Eventually, the Meadows brothers obtained the land, although John sold his part to brother Edward.
In 1994, the current owner and great-grandson of the founder, Edward H. Meadows Jr., acquired the property. Today, Chad Davies, a family friend and local farmer, works the land.
Currently, the farm supports the traditional crops of cotton, corn, hay and livestock, including hogs and cattle. The family reported that in 2000, 14 acres of the original farm were given to Middlefork Road Baptist Church for a new church.
Now 113 years old, the Meadows Brothers Farm is the seventh Century Farm to be certified in Henderson County, Hankins confirmed.

About the Century Farms Program

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 denoting 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 farms’ owners or request jpegs of the farms, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.