[471] Jefferson County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

For Release: May 20, 2011
CONTACT: CANETA HANKINS, CENTER FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION, 615-898-2947


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

Riverbend Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)— Riverbend Farm located in Jefferson 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. Twenty-two Century Farms have been certified in Jefferson County.
In 1896, Ann Duignan and her sons, Charles and George, purchased a farm of 108 acres in what was then called “The Lower Bend.” This area is surrounded on three sides by the Holston River, and the farm is about one mile from the Strawberry Plains railroad bridge, a strategic site of several Civil War skirmishes, including the Battle of Dandridge in 1864. The Duignans planted tobacco, corn, wheat and hay, selling their crops at market in Jefferson and Knox counties. Ann lived with George on the farm until her death in 1923. Charles married Jennie Ruth Rudder in 1899, and they built a small house on the farm, where they raised six children.
In 1941, George deeded his share of the farm to Charles, who also operated a sawmill at Big Springs, located outside Strawberry Plains. Active in his community, Charles supplied the first free school transportation for students in the community in 1929. He also served as a county road commissioner.
In 1960, James C. “J.C.” Hamilton, the great-grandson of Ann, grandson of Charles and son of Anna Alice Duignan Hamilton, bought the family farm from his grandmother, Jennie Rudder Hamilton. Married to the former Betty Cameron, who passed away in 2010, J.C. Hamilton and his family enjoyed many years at Riverbend Farm, also known as the Duignan-Hamilton Farm, and maintained the family tradition of hosting the annual Duignan Descendent Family Reunion. In addition to the house which was built in 1900, the farm also has a 1934 barn, a smokehouse built in 1930, and a granary and blacksmith shop dating from 1920. J. C. manages the farm operations of this fourth-generation agricultural site.
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.


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. In September 2011, MTSU will celebrate its 100th year anniversary with special events and activities throughout the year—kicked off by a Blue-Tie Centennial Gala on Friday, Sept. 9.