The Centennial Farm Program was begun by the Michigan Historical Commission in 1948 with support from Detroit Edison Company, Consumers Power Company, local electrical cooperatives and farm groups. It is intended to recognize farms that have remained in the same family for one hundred years or more and highlight the family farm's contributions to Michigan's development.

Farm owners receive a Michigan Centennial Farm Certificate from the Michigan Historical Commission and a display marker for the farm. The green-and-yellow markers are supplied by Michigan electrical utility companies to commemorate the dramatic changes electricity brought to farm operation and family life.

Centennial farm families are eligible for membership in the Michigan Centennial Farm Association, established in 1955.

A centennial farm is a working farm of 10 or more acres that has been continuously owned by the same family for at least 100 years. The Michigan Historical Commission has also established a Sesquicentennial Farm Program to recognize, upon request, certified centennial farms that have been owned by the same family for 150 years or longer.  The Centennial Farm application and instructions [DOC] are available for download.

For more information about the Centennial Farm Program contact the State Historic Preservation Office, Michigan Historical Center, P.O. Box 30740, 702 W. Kalamazoo St., Lansing, Michigan 48909-8240. Phone: (517) 373-1272 or (517) 373-1630.

Would you like more information on Michigan's historic agricultural buildings? Visit Historic Sites Online and keyword-search for 'farm" or 'barn' or whatever type of structure interests you. You can locate sites that are on the National Register of Historic Places or State Register of Historic Sites, or sites that have Michigan Historical Markers (through 2004). But please note: Centennial Farms are not included in Historic Sites Online unless they are listed on the National Register or State Register, or if they have a Michigan Historical Marker.

Michigan Historical Center, Department of History, Arts and Libraries
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