Changing priorities in agricultural production, from corn cultivation in the early 1800s to dairy farming at the turn of the century to cattle production today, characterize the history of the Roberts Farm— one still celebrated as a Tennessee Century Farm.  

Established by Thomas Roberts of Virginia on land located 10 miles southeast of Shelbyville, the Roberts Farm dates to 1811. Thomas and his wife Betsy Lacy began farming with 117 acres and they purchased 114 additional acres in 1819.  

Similar to many early Middle Tennessee farmers, they produced corn, hay, and cattle. Thomas and Betsy’s only son, Thomas Lacy Roberts, was the second generation owner.  

He married Priscilla Parker and they raised 11 children. Together the family operated a 400 acre farm, which yielded corn, hay, cattle, and timber. The crops produced at the Roberts Farm would change during the third generation ownership of Columbus Daniel (born 1856) and Fannie Ferguson Roberts (born 1867.) Sadly, Columbus passed in 1895 at age 39, but Fannie lived on to age 85.  

When the founders’ great-grandson, Claude D. Roberts, assumed ownership of the property during the 20th century, he added dairy cattle to the farm’s products and also operated a grist mill in the Raus community.  

In 1969, Claude and his wife Pauline’s only child, Winston D. Roberts, inherited 104 acres of original family land. Winston passed away in 2015; his daughters, Carol and Dorothy, presently manage the farm which specializes in cattle and hay production.  

Carol now serves as archivist for Bedford County and formerly worked with the State of Tennessee as director of preservation. The Century Farm legacy lives on within the Roberts family.  

About TN Century Farms  

According to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, the Tennessee Century Farms Programs, administered by the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP) at Middle Tennessee State University, identifies, documents, and recognizes farms owned by the same family for at least 100 years. 

 To date, nearly 2,100 Tennessee Century Farms have been certified. CHP maintains the Century Farm database of information and photographs, most of which is based on applications supplied by the farm families.  

Tennessee Agriculture: A Century Farms Perspective was published by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and the Center in 1986. The book-length study includes descriptions of each farm and both color and black and white photographs.  

The Century Farms Program established shared interests among the CHP, local historical societies, county extension offices, city and county governments, and chambers of commerce.  

The bond was strengthened with the traveling exhibit, “Tennessee’s Century Farms: Change and Continuity over 200 Years of Farming.”  

Funded by the Center and the Tennessee Humanities Council, it toured the state in 1988-89.

Taking rural preservation work in new directions, Center staff successfully nominated several historic family farms to the National Register of Historic Places. This work paved the way for the innovative Historic Family Farms of Middle Tennessee multiple property nomination.  

Considered a model for rural preservation, this was the first thematic nomination in the country to deal with historic farmsteads.  

The CHP, working with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and the Tennessee Historical Commission, serves as a clearing house of information on the Tennessee Century Farms Program, National Register Documentation of farms, and as national leader in documentation and interpretation of historic family farms.