[473] Gibson County Farm Joins State's Century Farms Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 18, 2010
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947

GIBSON COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
116-Year-Old Hall Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The Hall Farm in Gibson 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.
Just a few years before the end of the 19th century, R. W. Thornton purchased 10 acres of land for $150. When acquired in 1894, the land surrounding the tract was primarily farms and the town of Dyer would not be incorporated until 1899. That property, however, is now partially within the city limits of Dyer.
Thornton and his wife, A. J., had one daughter, Nannie Lee. The family raised cotton, hay and vegetables on the small family farm. The Thorntons built two houses around 1909 on High Street.
Nannie and husband John Elly Hall acquired one of the houses in 1919 before purchasing the farm in 1926. Under their ownership, the farm grew to total 70 acres, and the Halls, along with their children, James Garland and Roberta, added corn to the crops already being grown.
Today, Catherine Hall, widow of James Garland Hall, owns the farm with her daughters, Kay Hall Tignor and Carole Hall Denton, who are fourth-generation owners. The fifth generation is represented by Allison Tignor Little and James Matthew Denton.
Currently, all three generations live on the farm, where one of the two houses built in 1909 serves as home to Matthew Denton and his family. Terry Denton, husband of Carole, operates the farm and raises corn, wheat, soybeans, hay and vegetables.
Hankins said the Hall Farm is the 29th Century Farm to be certified in Gibson County.

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.
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“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, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.



With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.