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

CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947


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

Thomas Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)— The Thomas Farm, located in Henry 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 have owned and kept family land in production continuously for at least 100 years.
Just north of the county seat of Paris, Elam Anderson Thomas established a farm of 150 acres in December of 1910. He and wife Mary Thomas had four children, Shofner, Buella, Elam Frank and Aberta. The family raised tobacco, corn, potatoes, cotton, hogs and cows. After a decade, the land passed to Elam Frank in 1920. He and his wife, Lena Mae [Hawkins], were the parents of three children, Lucien, Lowell and Camille.
Acquiring the land in 1963, Lowell Thomas became the third generation owner in 1963. He is married to Dorothy [Rogers]. On 70 acres, the family raises corn, beans and Sebastopols – show geese with curly feathers. The Thomas Farm is the 24th certified Century Farm in Henry County. 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 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. MTSU recently unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.