NRHP Reference # 78002603 Added to NRHP 30 March 1978 | Area 4,047 m² Nearest city Knoxville | |
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The UTK Agriculture Farm Mound site is an archaeological site on the agriculture campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The site is a burial mound made by people of the Woodland period, and has been dated as early as ca. 644 AD. Today, the site is a landmark on the UTK campus and is listed in the National Register for Historic Places.
Location
The site is located at the Agricultural Campus at the corner of Joe Johnson Drive and Chapman Drive. In 2011, a garden was built around the site to protect it from “construction damage” and attract interest and attention to the mound. The design of the garden was developed by Dr. Hendrik van de Werken and Dr. Don Williams, professors of Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design at UT, and was revised by Sam Rogers, who is an associate professor in the Department of Plant Sciences. The President of the Tennessee Chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta (The Honor Society of Agriculture), Dr. Fred Allen proposed the project to the UT Chapter in 2008 “as a long term service project to enhance the educational opportunities and aesthetic beauty of the site”. Project directors enlisted the help of the Eastern Cherokee tribe and Tribal Historic Preservation. Principle Chief Michell Hicks attended the ribbon cutting ceremony, and elder Mertyl Driver, who blessed the site.
According to the UT Institute of Agriculture, “The goal of the project is to honor the Native American tradition dating back to 644 A.D. when the Woodland People used burial mounds as a way of burying and honoring their deceased.” The mound is considered a valuable piece of the UT Gardens.