[274] Gibson County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

For Release: Feb. 14, 2012
Contact: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947

NOTE: “PB Edwards Farms” is correct, and so is “P.B. Edmonds name.


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

PB Edmonds Farms Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

MURFREESBORO— The PB Edmonds Farms, located in Gibson 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.
P. B. Edmonds Sr. settled on 500 acres of farm land in the northeastern portion of Gibson County around 1858, when his name first appears on the tax records. Edmonds and his wife, Angelica Crowder Edmonds, were the parents of nine children—Elizabeth, Ida Belle, Rebecca, Annie Belle, Luther William, Preston Brown Jr., Laura Belle, Martha Helen, Elizabeth Ann and Cyrus Walker. The family raised cattle, hogs and mules while also growing cotton and corn. Their farm contributed to Gibson County’s large agricultural economy, which relied on the fertile land along the many river bottoms throughout the county.
Preston Brown Edmonds Jr. and William Alexander Edmonds were the next generation of owners, growing grain and raising livestock on 330 of the original 500 acres.
In 1996, Glynn Edmonds and his cousin, Gary McKelvy, acquired the farm and are partners in managing and operating the farm, that has been in their family for decades. They raise cattle and grow wheat, corn and beans. Their property is the 34th farm to be certified in Gibson County, which ranks ninth in the state in the Century Farms Program.
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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