INDIANA — At the Indiana State Fair, Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith and Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) Director Don Lamb presented 135 farming families with the Hoosier Homestead Award, recognizing their long-standing commitment to state agriculture.
Including the Beeler and Walton farms in Lawrence County.
“Indiana’s heritage is built on agriculture,” said Lt. Governor Beckwith, who serves as Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “It’s an honor to celebrate these farming families and the generations of hard work that got them here.”
To qualify for the award, farms must remain in the same family for over 100 consecutive years and span at least 20 acres, or produce more than $1,000 in agricultural products annually if under 20 acres. The program grants three distinct designations based on ownership longevity:
- Centennial Award: 100 years of family ownership
- Sesquicentennial Award: 150 years of family ownership
- Bicentennial Award: 200 years of family ownership
Since the program was established in 1976, more than 6,400 families have earned the distinction.
“Each of our Hoosier Homestead farms carries the same legacy, built by one generation for the next,” said ISDA Director Don Lamb. “My own farm still has a while to go before it’s eligible for this award, so I know firsthand the commitment and dedication it reflects.”
Bicentennial Award Honorees
Five Indiana farms earned the rare Bicentennial Award for maintaining 200 years of continuous family ownership:
- McClure family (Fountain County)
- Stewart family (Johnson County)
- Crooks family (Parke County)
- Allyn family (Posey County)
- Wheeler family (Vanderburgh County)
2026 Hoosier Homestead Award Recipients
| County | Awardee | Homestead Year | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | Bieberich | 1873 | Sesquicentennial |
| Adams | McMillen | 1876 | Sesquicentennial |
| Allen | Griebel | 1845 | Sesquicentennial |
| Allen | Hart | 1874 | Sesquicentennial |
| Allen | Springer | 1875 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Allen | Springer | 1911 | Centennial |
| Bartholomew | Finkel | 1922 | Centennial |
| Bartholomew | Finkel | 1880 | Centennial |
| Bartholomew | Andrew Whiteside | 1909 | Centennial |
| Bartholomew | Jim Whiteside | 1853 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Boone | Everett | 1909 | Centennial |
| Carroll | Johnson | 1910 | Centennial |
| Carroll | Todd | 1876 | Sesquicentennial |
| Cass | Heiny-Liming | 1926 | Centennial |
| Cass | Jump | 1913 | Centennial |
| Cass | Wade | 1916 | Centennial |
| Clinton | Gray | 1887 | Centennial |
| Clinton | Harshman | 1920 | Centennial |
| Clinton | Horlacher | 1875 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Clinton | Horlacher | 1903 | Centennial |
| Daviess | Kavanaugh and Eichmiller | 1881 | Centennial |
| Decatur | Carl E. Geis | 1924 | Centennial |
| Decatur | Menkedick | 1924 | Centennial |
| Decatur | Volk | 1864 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Decatur | Williams | 1826 | Centennial & Bicentennial |
| DeKalb | Stoops | 1875 | Sesquicentennial |
| Delaware | Rea & Nellie (Sheets) Riggin | 1866 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Dubois | Feldmeyer-Meyer | 1871 | Sesquicentennial |
| Dubois | Meyer | 1871 | Sesquicentennial |
| Dubois | Rahman | 1926 | Centennial |
| Elkhart | Hire | 1832 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Fayette | Brichford-Elliott | 1849 | Sesquicentennial |
| Fayette | Elliott-Hamilton-Brichford | 1868 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Fayette | Martin Pflum | 1925 | Centennial |
| Fountain | McClure | 1826 | Bicentennial |
| Fountain | Young | 1848 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Franklin | Orschell | 1923 | Centennial |
| Franklin | Scheele | 1876 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Fulton | Burdge | 1920 | Centennial |
| Fulton | Douglass | 1845 | Sesquicentennial |
| Fulton | Wagoner-Kline | 1876 | Sesquicentennial |
| Gibson | Benjamin Michel | 1917 | Centennial |
| Gibson | Boeglin | 1926 | Centennial |
| Gibson | Fred V. Wilson | 1891 | Centennial |
| Gibson | George Sollman | 1869 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Gibson | Gerhard Michel | 1876 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Gibson | Kruse | 1926 | Centennial |
| Grant | Cain-Miller-Cranor | 1865 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Grant | Green-Morton | 1856 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Grant | Ferree | 1924 | Centennial |
| Hamilton | Heinzmann | 1926 | Centennial |
| Harrison | Blank-Gleitz | 1890 | Centennial |
| Harrison | Johnson | 1920 | Centennial |
| Harrison | Miller | 1914 | Centennial |
| Harrison | Roy Wolf | 1924 | Centennial |
| Harrison | Schneider | 1895 | Centennial |
| Harrison | Zollman-Price | 1851 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Hendricks | Chatham-Layne-McNulty | 1924 | Centennial |
| Henry | Strattan | 1876 | Sesquicentennial |
| Henry | Ward | 1904 | Centennial |
| Howard | Chism | 1882 | Centennial |
| Huntington | Keiffer | 1921 | Centennial |
| Jackson | Fountain | 1875 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Jackson | Stockamp-Otte-Wiesehan | 1860 | Sesquicentennial |
| Jackson | Stuckwish | 1914 | Centennial |
| Jasper | Kennedy-Huff | 1919 | Centennial |
| Jefferson | Waltz | 1926 | Centennial |
| Johnson | Beaman | 1924 | Centennial |
| Johnson | Griffith | 1918 | Centennial |
| Johnson | Johnson | 1876 | Centennial |
| Johnson | Russell | 1926 | Centennial |
| Johnson | Stewart | 1820 | Centennial, Sesquicentennial, & Bicentennial |
| Knox | Tilly | 1912 | Centennial |
| Knox | Vance Smith Meier | 1919 | Centennial |
| Kosciusko | Stiffler | 1868 | Sesquicentennial |
| LaGrange | Myers | 1926 | Centennial |
| LaGrange | Yoder | 1875 | Sesquicentennial |
| Lake | Rosenthal | 1869 | Sesquicentennial |
| LaPorte | Nowatzke-Cavin | 1922 | Centennial |
| Lawrence | Beeler | 1908 | Centennial |
| Lawrence | Beeler | 1908 | Centennial |
| Lawrence | Walton | 1900 | Centennial |
| Madison | Preston | 1914 | Centennial |
| Marshall | Hahn | 1897 | Centennial |
| Marshall | Watkins | 1873 | Sesquicentennial |
| Monroe | Deck | 1856 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Monroe | Mitchell-Haley | 1913 | Centennial |
| Montgomery | Legg | 1919 | Centennial |
| Montgomery | McClaine | 1831 | Sesquicentennial |
| Montgomery | Rush | 1828 | Sesquicentennial |
| Montgomery | Wilkinson | 1886 | Centennial |
| Montgomery | Wilkinson-Eads | 1886 | Centennial |
| Morgan | McGinnis | 1836 | Sesquicentennial |
| Morgan | Parker | 1874 | Sesquicentennial |
| Newton | Bridgeman | 1874 | Sesquicentennial |
| Noble | Beers | 1915 | Centennial |
| Noble | Hass | 1887 | Centennial |
| Noble | Peffer | 1876 | Sesquicentennial |
| Parke | Crooks | 1826 | Bicentennial |
| Perry | Adams | 1923 | Centennial |
| Porter | Hardesty | 1853 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Porter | Pope | 1924 | Centennial |
| Porter | Pumroy | 1919 | Centennial |
| Porter | Reif-Miller | 1924 | Centennial |
| Posey | Allyn | 1818 | Centennial, Sesquicentennial, & Bicentennial |
| Pulaski | Crist | 1876 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Putnam | Ray | 1889 | Centennial |
| Randolph | Brown-Short | 1907 | Centennial |
| Randolph | Wasson | 1837 | Sesquicentennial |
| Ripley | Chandler | 1913 | Centennial |
| Ripley | Peetz | 1876 | Sesquicentennial |
| Ripley | Welch | 1897 | Centennial |
| Rush | Fisher | 1924 | Centennial |
| Rush | KenBack | 1837 | Sesquicentennial |
| Spencer | Dilger | 1872 | Sesquicentennial |
| Tippecanoe | Ade-Fry-Janssen | 1911 | Centennial |
| Tippecanoe | Ade-Fry-Porter | 1911 | Centennial |
| Tippecanoe | Ross-Martin-Byers | 1875 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Tipton | Allen Baird | 1887 | Centennial |
| Tipton | Amsbury-Morris | 1871 | Centennial |
| Union | Miller | 1858 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Vanderburgh | Wheeler | 1822 | Sesquicentennial & Bicentennial |
| Wabash | Farrell (Stout-Frantz) | 1898 | Centennial |
| Wabash | Frantz-Stout | 1861 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Wabash | Goebel | 1851 | Centennial & Sesquicentennial |
| Wabash | Stout | 1881 | Centennial |
| Warren | Hogue | 1922 | Centennial |
| Warren | Joe Fry | 1924 | Centennial |
| Washington | John L. Hurst | 1836 | Sesquicentennial |
| Wayne | Davis | 1859 | Sesquicentennial |
| Wells | Meyer | 1893 | Centennial |
| Wells | Raber | 1911 | Centennial |
| White | Yerk | 1919 | Centennial |
| Whitley | Robert Lee Schinbeckler | 1876 | Sesquicentennial |
