[156] Cocke County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

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

Heritage Farms Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—Heritage Farms, located in Cocke 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 Farms Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who continuously have owned and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years.
Parrottsville, one of the oldest communities in the state, was settled during the 1780s by a group of German immigrants. Decades later, in 1849, William Boyer established a farm of 294 acres near this community. He and his wife, Sara, had 11 children and raised beef cattle, chickens, corn, wheat, hay and tobacco. According to the family, “The house was built in 1854 and a special room in the attic was floored to hide goods.” This room would be used during the Civil War as armies moved through the area confiscating supplies.
Emma, a daughter of William and Sara, and husband Moten Sparks acquired the farm in 1893. The couple had three children and continued to raise many of the same crops and livestock, but the Sparks cleared more land.
In 1976, Billy Sparks, the great-grandson of the founders, acquired 100 acres. He and his wife Patricia continue the farming traditions of his ancestors but primarily raise beef cattle and hay. Billy Sparks worked for Farm Bureau as a sales representative and is still a member. He also served as chairman of the State Agriculture Committee for 12 years. The Sparks advise that a hand-dug well, rock-laid and 94 feet deep, is still in use today as is the 1850s farmhouse.
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 Farms 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.