[254] Clay County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

January 5, 2011
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947


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

King Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)— King Farm, located in Clay 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 Middle Tennessee State University.
The Century Farms Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have owned and kept family land in production continuously for at least 100 years.
The Oak Grove community of Clay County, where a school existed as early as 1881, is home to the King Farm, established in 1889 by George Washington “G.W.” King. King, a Civil War veteran who served in the Eighth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, married Lucinda Copas, and the couple had nine children. The family farmed 75 acres from the 1889 purchase along with another 40 acres bought in 1890. Livestock and grains were the primary commodities. H. B. King, son of G. W. and Lucinda, acquired 33 acres in 1907 and the remainder of the property in 1925. Married first to Floy Reneau and then to Lillie Ritter, he was the father of six children.
The family recalls that H. B. King, who served on the school board for several years, “restored and mended shoes by hand for almost everyone in the Oak Grove community for $.05 to $20.” Lillie King, a member of the Home Demonstration Club, “pieced and quilted quilts for as low as $1.25 each.” The Kings were members of the Campground Methodist Church at both the early log building and then the present building constructed in 1885, which continues in use.
The King Farm not only had a cobbler and a quilter, but also operated a sawmill on the farm through the years. The industry of the H. B. King family was noted by a 1940 certificate, signed by dignitaries including Gov. Prentice Cooper, that recognized them for “growing 75% or more of the food necessary for the family and livestock.”
At the death of H. B. King, the heirs received portions of the property. Today, Mark King, Elaine King Cherry and Mary A. King Hamilton are the owners, with Mark operating the farm. Mark, the great-grandson of G. W. and Lucinda, was honored by the Clay County Soil Conservation District in 2000 for his service. He and his wife, Vickie, and his mother, Maddelle King, live on the farm where he raises cattle and grows hay.
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 Farm 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. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. Recently, MTSU unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.