AGRICULTURE is business
Harville Farms recognized for Georgia Centennial Farm Award One of Bulloch County’s oldest farms, a landmark graced by an enormous family home that is known for its intriguing history, was recognized during the 22nd annual Georgia Centennial Farm Awards Ceremony at the Georgia National Fair in Perry in October 2015. Harville Family Farms was one of 13 farms recognized for the Centennial Family Farm Award, which 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. Tommy Harville, who owns Harville Family Farms and still farms the property on Harville Road, raises cattle and grows crops such as soybeans, cotton, peanuts and “a few pecans.” The farm can be traced back to land grant records in 1818 but was purchased by Samuel Winkler Harville in 1862, Harville said. According to records from the Bulloch County Historical Society (bullochhistory.com), the farm was originally 754 acres. Samuel Harville was one of the two delegates Bulloch County sent to the 1861 Secession Convention in Milledgeville. He voted for Georgia to secede from the Union. “Samuel’s son, Keebler Henry Harville, purchased the property and built the Harville House as a onestory house around 1894. The second story was added 10 years later resulting in a total of 14 rooms to accommodate a growing family,” the site reads. Tommy Harville said the farm had expanded during his grandfather’s time, but is now just 120 acres. Tommy is now the only family member left who comes directly from Samuel Harville’s line, with the exception of his two sons, he said. For years, dreams of restoring the historical Harville House have been shattered by expense, but a new effort by Harville and his relatives may result in funds to preserve the home. An old barn is being renovated and expanded to create a venue for family reunions and weddings. Revenue from renting the facility in the future may be used to restore the home. According to the Bulloch County Historical Society website, Tommy Harville’s grandfather Keebler designed the house. “The lumber used was cut and sawn from timber grown on the farm. By the time of Keebler’s death in 1946, the farm had grown to 2,800 acres. More 76 • Bulloch County Guide 2016
ABOVE: The Bulloch County Historical Society recently installed a new marker at the sight of the Harville House on Harville Road. Several family members attended Saturday’s dedication ceremony for the home, originally built in 1894, which served as the homestead for a farm that sustained 10 families. RIGHT: Tommy Harville, owner of Harville Family Farms.
than just a landmark, the farm was self-sustaining for 10 families. It included a grist mill, saw mill, cotton gin, two-story smoke-house, ice house, syrup house and a commissary,” the site reads. Keebler Harville was the first in Bulloch County to sell peanuts commercially, and picked peanuts commercially for other farmers from Blitchton to Claxton. He purchased the first corn snapper in the county. This editorial is an adapted version of a story, written by staff reporter Holli Deal Saxon, which ran in the Statesboro Herald on October 11, 2015.