BERNARD, Iowa -- History hovers around Allan Noonan.
A yellowed plat map hangs from his dining room wall. Aging photographs cram his closet. Historical tomes stuff his bookshelf, and verbal accounts of days gone by clog his memory.
Each historical medium conveys the same message:
Noonan's farm is old. And not just kind of old, but really, really, really old.
On Thursday, Iowa officials confirmed just that as the Bernard native traveled to Des Moines to receive the highest honor the state bestows upon farms.
The Heritage Award recognizes farms maintained by one family for more than 150 years. Noonan's number tops even that. His family's farm has operated since 1845, one year before Iowa became a state.
"It's a time to acknowledge the history that took place here," Noonan said of the award.
And what a history it has been.
"It's like the farm has always been here," Noonan said.
In 1845, Irish immigrants Henry and Mary Burke purchased the property for $1.25 per acre. As the years passed, the Burkes passed
| Advertisement |
|---|
|
|
P.C. earned local fame as the postmaster, saloon owner and general store manager for the community of Gerryowen, which no longer exists.
So it went, with the farm exchanging hands throughout the generations.
Allan Noonan's parents, Joseph and Loretta, ran the farm for much of the 20th century.
"Oh, I remember the tremendously long days my father put in with the horses," Noonan said. "Of course, that was before tractors. It was a livelihood -- a good livelihood -- but it was hard work, and I saw that every day growing up."
At 17, Noonan left the farm. He went to college, married and moved to Texas, where he stayed until his brother died in 1997 and bequeathed Noonan the farm.
"Coming here is coming home," Noonan said.
So he returns often, splitting his time between Texas and Iowa.
"There's an attraction about this place," he said.
Perhaps that lure is the past. After all, he proudly displays the farm's history throughout the home.
Then again, the fascination could be with the future.
"This farm is something I hope will be in my family a long, long time," Noonan said. "I think another generation, at least, will continue this legacy."
