Carverdale Farms - Granville, TN - Century Farms on Waymarking.com

"Granville's Carverdale Farms may be one of the newest additions to the National Register of Historic Places.

The property was unanimously accepted by the state review board last week.

The nomination will now be reviewed by "The Keeper" of the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C., before it is officially listed.

If approved, the farm would become the fifth site on the National Register of Historic Places in Jackson County.

The process for getting the property on the National Register began almost a year ago, and involved site photos, maps, floor plans, and historic photographs.

Most of the documentation came from old deeds kept in Carver and Moore family archives and interviews with current property owner Joe Moore. Carver Moore and Tennessee Tech librarian Charlene McClain traced the history of the farm to 1830.

The Joseph Williamson family squatted on this farm and constructed a small single pen 19- by 19-foot log cabin. This cabin has since found new life as a barn. In 1850, the farm was purchased by Andrew Jackson Vantrease in a chancery court sale.

Vantrease was responsible for the construction of the farmhouse as well as a number of rock fences, two of which are still extant.

In 1889, Vantrease died of malaria. The following year, Union Civil War veteran Samuel Sampson Carver purchased the entire farm at another chancery court sale.

He renovated the farmhouse, added the entire upstairs and constructed chimneys on either side. He doubled the size of this home, as it had only been a two-room structure with a dogtrot before.

Carver later built a saw mill, where he cut and processed much of the timber off the farm. At the height of Carver's operation from 1906 to 1938, the farm grew to 1,000 acres.

Carver, his son, Joseph, and grandson-in-law, Donald Moore, served as the farm managers. Tenant farmers were employed by the men and were paid two dollars per day and were also given one third of the crops that they grew.

During Sam's life, Carverdale Farms functioned as a mini city including many entities beyond agriculture. Joseph Rueben Carver owned and operated a general store and blacksmith shop on the farm.

The younger Carver also took over operations of his father's sawmill and opened it to the public. The Carver family also constructed the Liberty school on their farm in 1916. That school houses the Liberty church of Christ.

Sam Carver was involved in local politics as well as other civic organizations. For 30 years Sam served as Justice of the Peace for the 5th District of Jackson County, hearing cases at his home. Sam also served as the first president of the Bank of Granville, chair of the Martin's Creek bridge committee and on the Tennessee Power Company Board of Directors.

In 1943, Carverdale Farms served as a training ground for World War II engineer soldiers. The historic farmhouse served as a field hospital after 16 of those men became ill. In 1952, Carverdale Farms was given its name by Sam Carver's granddaughter, Thelma Moore, due to its geographic location in a dale.

All of this history is significant in getting Carverdale Farms listed in the NRHP but the most significant event in the farm's history occurred in 1955.

Since 1928, the Moore family has been involved in and has supported the Future Farmers of America organization. Donald Moore was the first Tennessee State President of FFA in 1928. Donald passed his love of agriculture on to his son, Joe, who also went on to become heavily involved in FFA and became a finalist for FFA's Star Farmer of America Award in 1955.

Carverdale Farms continued as one of the largest farms in the State of Tennessee until 2010. As Joe and Ann have gotten older, it has been harder for them to manage such a large agricultural operation.

In 2007, Carverdale Farms was dubbed a Tennessee Century Farm, because it had been in the same family for more than 100 years.

Today, Carverdale Farms serves as a stop for the Tennessee State FFA officers as part of their own Goodwill Tour. All of the farm's agricultural buildings and pastures, the Carver family cemetery, two additional residences, as well as the Liberty church of Christ and the J.R. Carver General Merchandise Store are included in the nomination to the NRHP."
Reference: "Carverdale Farms added to National Register", The Herald Citizen (Cookeville, TN), 20 May 2018, Section: News.

Physical Marker: no Additional Years of Recognition: 125 years Century Farm Website: [Web Link] Retail Sales to the Public: no Farm-fresh Products: Not listed

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