[478] STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES GRAINGER COUNTY FARM’S CONTRIBUTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 22, 2009
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES GRAINGER COUNTY FARM’S CONTRIBUTIONS
Kidwell Farm Brings County’s Tennessee Century Farms Total to 10

(MURFREESBORO)—The Kidwell Farm in Grainger 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.
On Christmas Eve of the first year of the 20th century, W. O. Kidwell became the owner of 56 acres south of Rutledge. He and his wife, Tennie, were the parents of Robert, Grace K. Creech, Letha K. James and Bessie K. Murray. The family raised primary crops of tobacco, corn, hay, pasture and cattle.
In 1928, Robert acquired the farm. He and his wife, Effie Baer Kidwell, had six children; namely, Eugene, Lena Mae, Jesse W., Mary, Charles E. and James Leon. The family grew many of the same crops as the founders, but also raised dairy cattle. Through the years of the Great Depression, the farm provided food and the family’s only income.
The third generation to own the property was the grandson of the founders, Eugene Kidwell, and his wife, Allene. Their children are Dale, Donna and Anna K. Cabbage.
In 1976, the current owner and great-grandson of the founders, Dale Kidwell, obtained the farm. Today, Dale and wife Carolyn work the land. Currently, the farm produces hay, pasture and beef cattle.
The Kidwell Farm, now owned by the Kidwell Family for 109 years, is the 10th Century Farm to be certified in Grainger 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, 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 request a jpeg of the property, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.