[154] Henry County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

HENRY COUNTY FARM JOINS RANKS OF STATE’S
CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

Carter Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The Carter Farm, located 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 at Middle Tennessee State University.
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who continuously have owned and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years.
In the years before women could vote or hold property, unless inherited, it was somewhat unusual for a woman to purchase land in her own name. In 1897, however, Mrs. Martha F. Carter bought “120 acres and 88 poles” of land from H. B. Sweeney for $595.00, of which she paid $125 in cash at the time of purchase. Married to John Spencer Carter, Martha had four children.
In November of 1911, Martha’s children, C. I., J. T., Mary E. and Lillie M. acquired the farm and raised hogs, cattle and corn. During the next 40 years, C.I. purchased most of the land from the other heirs. Charles and wife Hattie were the parents of Charles, Earl and Inez.
In 1967, Earl Carter and wife Fay received 110.5 acres of the farm. Earl passed away in 2009, leaving Fay as the sole owner. With the help of nephews Don and Grant Norwood and daughter and son-in-law Barbara and Reed Rose, who also live on the farm with son Mike Rose, Fay raises hogs, cattle, corn, soybeans and wheat. Like the founder, Martha Carter, Fay Carter is active in the management of her farm.
Since 1984, the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program.
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit www.tncenturyfarms.org. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted at P.O. Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132 or 615-898-2947.

• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owner or request jpegs of the farm for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.




Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. This fall, MTSU unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.