[010] STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES DICKSON COUNTY FARM’S CONTRIBUTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 8 2009
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES DICKSON COUNTY FARM’S CONTRIBUTIONS
Buchanan Farm Brings County’s Tennessee Century Farms Total to 21

(MURFREESBORO)—The Buchanan Farm in Dickson 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.
Located on busy Highway 48 between Dickson and Charlotte, the Buchanan Farm was founded in 1909 by Matthew “Henry” Buchanan and his wife, Minnie Coulter Buchanan. Both were children of Civil War veterans who moved to the area from Pennsylvania following the war.
In the early part of the 20th century, the farm was a place where travelers and livestock often rested and enjoyed the good spring water. In later years, cars sometimes became stuck in the marshy soil around the creek bottom, the family reports, and Henry and his sons would “be called upon to help get them on their way again.”
The couple had five sons—Coulter, Douglas, Allen, Henry and Ray—and two daughters, Helen and Margaret. The farm supported hay, corn, cattle, hogs, sheep and poultry. Minnie, like many farm wives, raised poultry for family table as well as for cash income and a photograph from the 1930s pictures her with some of her flock. Timber was also a valuable commodity and the “timber for construction of Mt. Lebanon Methodist Church was sawn by Henry Buchanan.” From 1953 to1976, the farm was a Grade-A dairy farm.
In 1975, Henry “Hunter” Buchanan became the second generation to own the farm. He and his wife, Corinne Deal Buchanan, are the parents of Kay, Carol, Jan and Julie. Active in agricultural organizations, Hunter is a member of the Farm Bureau and the Dickson Farmers Cooperative. Corinne was a member of the Dickson Home Demonstration Club and also a 4-H volunteer. Each of the couple’s daughters was an active member of the Dickson County 4-H Club.
Today, a barn built in 1920 by the founder is still used, along with the sheds that were added by Hunter in 1953.
“Celebrating its centennial this year, the historic Buchanan Farm is the 21st Tennessee Century farm to be certified in Dickson County,” Hankins noted.

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.


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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, including a circa 1930s photo of one of the farm’s founders. Minnie Buchanan, feeding her chickens, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.