A Bulloch County farm was recognized recently at the Georgia National Fair in Perry for its historical significance.
The Alderman Family Farm, in the Westside community, is now owned by Jimmie Alderman. It was awarded status as a “Centennial Family Farm” by the Georgia Centennial Farm Program.
The award “recognizes farms owned by members of the same family for 100 years or more that are not listed in the National Register of Historic Places,” said Charlie Miller, the program committee chairman.
“Farms hold a central role in the heritage of our state, having formed the economic, cultural and family foundation for generations of Georgians,” he said.
Farm owners across the state were recognized for one of three categories.
The Centennial Farm Award does not require continual family ownership, but farms must be at least 100 years old and listed in the National Register, Miller said.
The Alderman Family Farm, located in the Westside community near West Alderman and Westside roads, was actually started more than 200 years ago, said Jimmie Alderman, whose home is on Alderman Lane on 65 acres remaining from the original 7,000 acres.
He said he appreciates the recognition of the farm purchased in 1816 by David Alderman, a Revolutionary War soldier who settled in the area because his son Samuel Alderman was already living here.
Alderman said he is proud of the honor and plans to hang signs provided by the program noting the status, but he pointed out that most farms in Bulloch County are actually family farms with histories.
The historic value of family-owned farms is “mirrored many times over in our area,” he said.
The Westside community is filled with people who can trace kinship to each other, and “there is a strong sense of heritage” there, he said.
He was born in the house in which he lives, as were his father, Emmett Alderman Jr., and grandfather Emmett Alderman Sr.
His grandfather built the house. Jimmie Alderman demolished the original log house, which was in disrepair, in 1960, he said.
The farm is still operating.
“We’ve got some of the finest cotton in Bulloch County out front (of the house) and some of the worst out back,” he joked.
Alderman is married to Kay Goodman Alderman, who also grew up nearby in the Westside community.
The Georgia Centennial Farm program is a partnership involving the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Farm Bureau Federation, Georgia Department of Agriculture, Georgia
Forestry Commission and Georgia National Fair and Agricenter, with support from Georgia EMC.
The 2013 Georgia Centennial Farm Awards ceremony was held Oct. 4. This year is the 20th year of the program. Since 1993, the Georgia Centennial Farm program has recognized 451 farms around the state.
Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.