[543] Dickson County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

England Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

MURFREESBORO — The England Farm in Dickson County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Dr. Carroll Van West, 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.

 

Timber is a traditional industry on Tennessee’s western Highland Rim, and Robert Lee England, who founded a farm northwest of Dickson in 1899, owned and operated a sawmill with his brothers. They also cut and supplied crossties for the railroad. Robert and his wife, Olive Myrtle Baker England, were the parents of seven children. The family raised row crops, including tobacco and livestock and vegetables for their table on 50 acres.

Malcolm Robert England, who was born in 1908 and died in 1987 lived his entire life on the farm, which he acquired from his parents, Robert and Olive in 1946. He married Loretta Davis and had two sons, Randall and Phillip. Randall died in 1964, but Phillip, the current owner along with his wife Judy Smith England, continues to make his home on his family’s land. Their sons, Randall Scott and Nathan Todd England, share ownership with their parents. The family primarily raises beef cattle and hay. Randall Scott’s son Sam England, is also involved in the farm’s operations and represents the fifth generation of Englands who have lived and worked on this land.

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.