[136] Jackson County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

For Release: Oct. 14, 2011
Contact: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947


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

Woodard Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

MURFREESBORO— The Woodard Farm, located in Jackson 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 1892, Robert E. Woodard, along with H.E. Woodard and C.H. Woodard, purchased a 100-acre farm in western Jackson County near the Gladdice community. He and his wife, Virgie Phillips Woodard, were the parents of Elbert, Eugene and Clio. The family raised cows, hogs, corn, tobacco, chickens, and sugar cane and also had a vegetable garden.
In 1948 when Robert died, the children inherited the farm. Elbert remained on the farm where he and his wife Cleo, Green Woodard, raised their family Eldon, Earleen and Francis Sue, the third generation.
Earlene Woodard Wilkerson, daughter of Elbert Woodard, and her husband, Lee Dow Wilkerson, acquired the farm in 1976 when her father’s health required him to retire from farming. The Wilkersons and their daughter, Lucinda, primarily raised cattle. Bernice Ray Woodard, a great-nephew of the founder, acquired the farm in 1997 and continued to raise cattle. Bradford Woodard, another great-nephew of the founder, acquired 35 acres of the family farm in 2009. Bradford and his wife, Shirley, live on the farm and report that a log cabin remains from the time of the founders. Ten farms in Jackson County are now certified as Century Farms.
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.

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