Echoes and Ecosystems: A Worthington Cemetery Workday

Join us for a special stewardship day at the Worthington Cemetery Ecological Study Area on Saturday, May 31, 2025, from 9 a.m. to noon. Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning (TCWP) is partnering with TVA, the City of Oak Ridge, and AmeriCorps to continue our decades-long work protecting and restoring this unique natural and historical site. Located near the Elza Gate on Melton Hill Reservoir, this area features rare cedar barrens, a wetland with a wildlife viewing deck, and a multigenerational family cemetery. 

Volunteers will help with invasive plant removal—including privet, marsh dayflower, and buckthorn—improve trails, and care for the prairie wildflowers surrounding the cemetery. We’ll meet at the Elza Gate Park picnic area (near the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Melton Lake Drive), and wrap up the morning with a pizza lunch. Please wear sturdy shoes and bring gloves, water, and any tools like loppers or pruning saws—extras will be provided. Contact Jimmy Groton at groton87@comcast.net or 865-805-9908 for more information.

Worthington Cemetery holds deep historical and ecological significance. The land was first settled in 1795 by Samuel Worthington, a Revolutionary War veteran, whose descendants remained until the family was displaced in 1942 for the Manhattan Project. The cemetery—now a TVA-designated Small Wild Area and ecological study site—includes 80 to 100 graves and a surrounding natural landscape rich with native species and wildlife. Family historian Ann Hewitt Worthington will be present to share stories about the site’s past, including family legends of unmarked graves and insights into evolving burial customs. This event is a chance to honor both the cultural heritage and the ecological value of this rare green space in Oak Ridge.