[068] Johnson County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

For Release: Sept. 7, 2011
Contact: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947


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

Maple Hill Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

MURFREESBORO— The Maple Hill Farm, located in Johnson 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.
Maple Hill Farm is an intact early-20th century farm in the Shady Valley community. William Mays and his wife, Sidney Ann Hutchinson Mays, moved to the area in 1901. William worked for the Empire Mining & Manufacturing Company and cut timber in remote areas of Holston Mountain. After Empire Mining completed timbering, it began to sell the land. William and Sidney Ann purchased several tracts, some in both of their names and some individually. The couple had six children and raised oats, straw, wheat, corn, cattle, hogs and chickens. William also worked as a blacksmith, making tools and parts for farm machinery. The farm complex included the two barns, a blacksmith shop, machine shed, wash house, cement cellar, a smokehouse and a grain storage and woodshed building.
In 1933, Clyde Blaine Mays, a son of William and Sidney Ann, acquired the farm of about 16 acres and expanded it to nearly 31 acres, raising corn, wheat, hay, beans, apples, cattle, hogs and chickens on the land. Clyde worked for TVA during the 1940s, and Shady Valley was one of the first areas in Johnson County to receive electricity after the Mountain Electric Co-Op was formed in 1941. His knowledge of electricity allowed him to wire all the outbuildings, each with its own breaker, to the amazement of his parents. Seeing the lights in all of the farm buildings, Sidney Ann remarked that “one of these days, there would be lights all over the valley.”
In 1982, Fannie Mays McQueen, a daughter of William and Sidney Ann Mays, acquired the farm. She lived next door to her parents and worked the farm after they were unable to do so. Fannie was married to Elmer Eugene McQueen, and they had three children. During her period of ownership, the farm produced tobacco, strawberries, beans, apples, cattle, hogs and chickens. Beans were a huge crop in Shady Valley from the 1930s to the 1960s, and Bush Beans and Libby’s were two of the larger companies that contracted with local farmers for the crop that was processed and shipped throughout the country. The McQueens also operated a dairy. Fannie also was actively involved in the Home Demonstration Club and won many ribbons and awards for her canned foods and garden crops.
Jewell M. Hamm, a granddaughter of the founders, acquired the farm in 1985, and she and her husband, Robert Hamm, and their family are involved in the farming operations. This includes their daughter and son-in-law, Shannon and Brad Ellis, their son and daughter-in-law, Tracy and Debbie Hamm, and their grandsons, Tyler and Dylan Hamm. The family has worked to restore and maintain the farm buildings, and they grow hay and beef cattle. Jewell grew up on the farm and recalls learning about the land from her grandfather. She is the keeper of history of the farm and family and is the author of the entry on Johnson County in the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Maple Hill Farm is the 10th Century Farm certified in Johnson 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.