[371] Sumner County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

For Release: April 5, 2012
Contact: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947


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

Roberson Family Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions


MURFREESBORO— The Roberson Family Farm, located in Sumner 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 1871, Calvin Pleasant and wife, Nancy Richard Jerrell Roberson, acquired approximately 100 acres five miles south of Castalian Springs in Sumner County. In 1872, they built a log house, but it burned in 1898. That same year, the Robersons built a larger farmhouse. With their eight children, they grew tobacco, hay and a large garden. Their livestock included hogs, cattle and sheep.
When Nancy died in 1922, Amanda “Annie” Roberson Hoffman acquired her parents’ farm. Though she married, the couple divorced without having any children. Annie raised hogs, sheep and cattle while also growing tobacco. In 1951, Annie sold the farm to her brother, Alfred David Roberson, and his family for. At his death in 1958, Alfred’s wife, Leila Mae Ramsey Roberson, sold the property to their son, William Calvin Roberson, and his family. Until 1970, William Roberson and his family worked the farm. That year, the farm became the property of Paul R. Roberson, Sr. and his wife Mildred.
When Paul Sr. passed away, his children, Paul R. Roberson Jr. and Elizabeth “Libby” Roberson Stone, acquired the land in 2003. Today, Paul manages the farm and grows hay. Eleven of their 109 acres were part of the parcel purchased by the founder in 1871, and a barn dating to 1907 and the farmhouse, built in 1898, remain on the property.
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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