[473] STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES MONTGOMERY COUNTY FARM’S CONTRIBUTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 19, 2009
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES MONTGOMERY COUNTY FARM’S CONTRIBUTIONS
Moore Family Farm Brings County’s Tennessee Century Farms Total to 27

(MURFREESBORO)—The Moore Family Farm in Montgomery 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, which is located on the MTSU campus.
In 1908, Thomas and Sarah Castleberry founded a 250-acre farm in the 22nd District of Montgomery County, near the county line with Dickson County. The couple had eight children. Tobacco, corn, wheat, beef cattle, sheep and sweet potatoes were the primary crops.
The children of Thomas and Sarah—Frank, Mary, Irvin, Russell, Ben, James and Nora—inherited the land in 1943. Eventually, the siblings sold their property to their sister, Nora, and her husband, George H. Moore Sr. Under their ownership, the farm produced generally the same crops and livestock as that of her parents.
In 1988, the grandson of the founder, George H. Moore Jr., acquired the farm. George, a veteran of the Vietnam War, manages the farm and works the land where he raises tobacco, corn, and soybeans. Over the years, George has been quite involved in agricultural related activities. He was in 4-H, is a Farm Bureau member and works closely with the UT Extension Service.
The Moore Family Farm is the 27th Century Farm to be certified in Montgomery County, Hankins said.

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, 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.

ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owners, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.