Brainerd Mission
Chattanooga, TN

Brainerd Mission
5600 Brainerd Road
Chattanooga , TN
423-425-6311

Founded in 1817 by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the mission and school along the banks of Chickamauga Creek served to educate and Christianize the native Cherokee. Originally known as the Chickamauga Mission, its name was changed to Brainerd Mission in honor of the famed missionary David Brainerd, whose tireless work with native tribes in New Jersey and New York earned him notoriety.

Comprised of dormitories, a church, two mills, and a large garden, the original mission thrived and became a point of great interest to people dedicated to the cause of educating and Christianizing the Cherokee. One notable figure who was interested in the work and progress of the mission was President James Monroe, who spent the night of May 27, 1819 at the mission. Another notable visitor to the mission was the Rev. Dr. Samuel Worcester who, at the time of his visit in 1821, served as Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Arriving in late May of 1821, Dr. Worcester fell ill and died on June 7, less than two weeks after his arrival. Two days after his death Dr. Worcester was buried in the Brainerd Mission Cemetery , and a monument to him still stands today.

Though much of the mission was destroyed by fire in 1830, the mission continued to prosper until the Cherokee removal in 1838. Much of the original mission site has been lost to commercial development, but the cemetery remains as a preserved historic site. Several large Southern red oaks thought to date to the 1830’s stand in the cemetery, and interpretive plaques and signs guide visitors through the cemetery. Brainerd Mission Cemetery contains the graves of both white missionaries and native Cherokee.

Hours: 8pm-4pm on weekdays

Directions: I-75, Exit 184 Moore Road. Turn North on Moore Road. At 1^st light turn right on Brainerd Road. Go 0.6 miles, turn right into Eastgate Town Center .  Cemetery is in marked, wooded area on the North side of Eastgate Mall.