[493] Putnam County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

For Release: June 6, 2011
Contact: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947


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

Nash Farm at Hickory Nut Point Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)— The Nash Farm at Hickory Nut Point, located in Putnam 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 MTSU.
The Century Farms Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have owned and kept family land in continuous agricultural production for at least 100 years.
In 1905, James Riley Nash purchased approximately 100 acres of land south of Cookeville in Putnam County. He raised cattle, hogs, chickens, mules, corn and oats on this farm. James also owned acreage nearby and was able to give each of his children a farm. He owned several sawmills in the area and kept people employed during the Depression, although he sometimes had to pay employees with meat and eggs instead of cash during those difficult years. He and his wife, Cordelia Caroline Mott, donated land for the Nash’s Chapel School and the Nash Grove Baptist Church. Cordelia and James were the parents of nine children.
In 1921, their son, John Wesley Nash, acquired the family farm. He cleared several acres for pasture and increased corn production while also raising cattle and hogs. He and his wife, Ova Chaffin, were the parents of John Everett, Edwin, Lucille, Cordelia, James Hubert, Ruth and Josephine.
Verble Nash, a grandson of the founders and nephew of John Wesley Nash, acquired the farm in 1971. Verble uses his 66-acre farm for cattle, pasture and hay. He is married to Dorothy Morris, and three generations of the Nash family currently reside on the property. In addition to Verble and Dorothy, the couple’s daughter and son-in-law, Linda Cheryl and Jeff Hamilton, live on the farm, as does their grandson, Brandon James Cumby, who lives in a log house built by Verble in 1985.
Nash Farm at Hickory Nut Point is the 11th certified Century Farm in Putnam 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 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. In September 2011, MTSU will celebrate its 100th year anniversary with special events and activities throughout the year kicked off by a Blue-Tie Centennial Gala on Friday, Sept. 9.