Troy, Tenn.–An Obion County farm that was founded in 1917 is one of the latest additions to the Tennessee Century Farms Program.
The Callis Farm is located west of Troy in Obion County. John “Henry” Callis and his wife, Lovie Lee McGowen Callis, owned 97 acres and raised cattle, cotton, hogs, and vegetables. They had two sons, the oldest of whom, Houston Elias Callis, became the farm’s second owner. He added corn to the crops his father had grown. Houston married Arlie Jane Burnett. The couple had one daughter, Linda Lee Callis, and she acquired the farm in 1983, along with her husband, Don Allen. They raised cattle and hay on 101 acres.
Since 2017, Cory Luther, a member of the extended Callis family, has owned 16 acres of the farm, which produces cattle, timber, pears, apples, peaches, and vegetables. The original Callis homeplace (pictured) remains on the farm.
In 2013, a mid-nineteenth-century barn, constructed of yellow poplar logs with cedar rafters, was donated to the Discovery Park of America in Union City, along with a corn crib. The barn is featured in the book Barns of Tennessee (2009), co-written by former Tennessee Century Farms director Caneta S. Hankins and colleague Michael T. Gavin.