JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) – Washington County, Tennessee leaders are asking for ideas from residents on what to do with the 47-acre County Farm.
The farm is located on Zeke Crawford Road off Couch Road and was the last active “poor farm” in Tennessee. “Poor farms” provided homes to those in the community who did not have anywhere else to stay.
The Washington County-Owned Property Committee announced Tuesday that it was seeking ideas on how to best use the property. The farm is home to livestock and features woods, rocks, swampland and burial grounds for those who used to live there. A caretaker operates the farm at present.
The committee’s request for proposal (RFP) gives those in the area the chance to share their thoughts on how the space could be used to improve the community, county commissioner Jodi Jones said.
“We have heard people suggest a number of ideas,” Jones stated in a release. “With this RFP, let’s see what the citizens can put together by way of an organized plan for how to accomplish what would work for the land. As commissioners, we owe it to the citizens of Washington County to help them get the absolute best use of county-owned property.”
In September, Washington County commissioners were weighing their options regarding the County Farm. Jones told News Channel 11 at the time that auctioning off the property, donating it or finding a county use for it were all on the table.
All ideas from county residents must be realistic, the committee asks, and must be submitted by 2 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2024. To submit an RFP, contact the county purchasing department at 423-753-1642 and request a packet. The packets must be dropped off at the office of the purchasing director on the second floor of the county courthouse at 100 E Main Street in Jonesborough.
