Farm A Family Legacy

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – Most folks don’t realize when they zoom down Blountville Highway that they’re cutting through one of the oldest farms in Sullivan County.

But, about halfway between Blountville and Bristol, the highway slices through a 150-acre farm that’s been home to six generations of one Blountville family.

“It’s very rare, especially in the last few years,” said Linda Sanders, who lives on the farm with her husband, Bob. “People are just selling, selling and selling, and subdivisions are popping up everywhere.”

The land has been in the family since Bob Sanders’ great-grandfather, Amos Hall, bought it in the mid-19th century. Although it hasn’t been a working farm for three generations, it provides the family with recreation that also supplants their costs.

This is the sixth year they have ploughed a pumpkin patch that generates a few hundred dollars every year. After all, it’s a family legacy, and the Sanders plan to keep it that way.

“Oh mercy, I’d say we get offers every two or three months,” Linda Sanders said on Saturday of the farm. “But we wouldn’t sell an inch of land – not even for a million dollars.”

The Sanders said they cherish the farm and the life it allows them to lead. But their country lifestyle has gotten increasingly expensive over the past five years, and they understand why other families have sold out.

“You know, children grow up and they move away,” Linda Sanders said. “ ... And the cost of fertilizer is double what it was last year.”

The Sanders’ farm is unofficially known as a “century farm,” Linda Sanders explained.

A century farm is a plot of land owned by the same family for more than 100 years, according to the Tennessee Century Farms Program, which was established by the Department of Agriculture in 1985. There are 1,226 such farms in Tennessee and 15 in Sullivan County, according to the program’s Web site. The Sanders’ farm is not included in that number because family members haven’t yet taken the steps to have it officially certified.

In fact, Sullivan County is home to the state’s oldest farm, The Masengill Farm, which dates to 1775.

Bob Sanders has lived on the land his entire life, and currently 10 family members live on the land in separate houses.

Linda Sanders said her daughter was married on top of one of her favorite hills. Later, the couple built their house on the same spot.

“They said we’re gonna marry here, live here and die here,” just like the generations before, she said.

The farm provides them with recreation, they said. They don’t live off the land – but they love it.

It seems every inch is a memory – making apple cider with their kids, winter sleigh rides and the year they planted too many tomatoes.

They don’t know what the future will hold, they said. But they will pass the land on to their kids and hope the farm will be home to generations to come.

“It’s relaxing and we enjoy the solitude,” said Bob Sanders. “The children love it. It’s so nice to be raised in the country.”

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