This Tennessee Urban Legend Will Keep You Awake At Night - Because It's True
Meghan Kraft
Author
You’ve probably heard terrible stories: teenagers taking a hike in the woods, wandering a lovers’ lane late at night, and stumbling across a meadow of corpses. Dead men and women, rotting and posed, some that appear tossed about or freshly dead. Serial killer? Nah. Body farm in Tennessee? Yep.
It may not seem too believable, but it’s a real thing. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville has a body farm that uses corpses as teaching tools for future scientists. There are only three in the country, located in Cullowhee, North Carolina; Knoxville, Tennessee; and San Marcos, Texas. Tennessee boasts the largest body farm in the country, at two and half acres. For reference, when at capacity, we’re looking at a body farm that holds anywhere from 40 to 50 bodies in a variety of different areas and poses to help students better understand the science of a body’s life after death.
The main point is for future forensic scientists to be able to study body decomposition in a variety of elements. It was implemented into UT studies in 1981, with over one hundred bodies donated to the university on a yearly basis. If you’re looking to drive future students for success AND feed the ever true urban legend of a woodland body farm, now you know where to go.
You may not be sleeping tonight… but, don’t worry. The body farm in Knoxville is surrounded by a razor wire fence, so no one is wandering in – or out – unnoticed.
If for some crazy reason you’re interested in visiting the body farm, sorry to say but you’re in for a disappointment. The Forensic Anthropology Center of Knoxville does not offer tours. This place is for research only, and the families of the donated bodies would probably not appreciate their late loved ones being gawked at. Still, the video offers an interesting insight into this place and the important work that goes into training people studying forensics.
You can learn more about this place by visiting the Forensic Anthropology Center website. And if you’re a fan of stories that give you the creeps, we’ve put together an entire list of other urban legends in Tennessee.
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More to Explore
Body Farm In Tennessee
What are the creepiest places in Tennessee?
In addition to an actual body farm in Tennessee? Well, if learning about creepy places in Tennessee is of interest to you, here are a few more. There is a mansion in Talbott known as the Frightmare Manor. The name sounds a bit cheesy, and it hosts a haunted house that's considered one of the best in the state. That's not what makes it truly creepy, though. Frightmare Manor was the site of brutal murders by one man to his entire family, and the bodies of many others were found there that may have been some of the missing people of the area. It is theorized that they were all killed by the same man, Jeremiah Lexer. Now that's terrifying!
What other some other Tennessee urban legends?
Interested in more unusual legends and folklore from Tennessee? Here's an entire list of them. Many people have heard of a few of them - such as the Bell Witch Cave - but some may be new to you. Have you heard of the tale of Old Green Eyes, a Civil War soldier whose head was the only thing found of his body? What about The Signal Man, a headless train conductor that roams Chapel Hill? These stories are quite spine-chilling to read, whether or not they are actually true or just myths.
What is the most haunted place in Tennessee?
There are a few strange places in Tennessee that are notorious for possibly being a bit... paranormal. In fact, we've put together an entire Haunted Tennessee Road Trip that'll take you to some of the most ghostly places in the state. The route includes everything from a plantation with a huge graveyard to the infamous Bell Witch Cave. Are you brave enough to take this drive?