John Hendrix Memorial
Prayer Walk
A historic ½-mile nature trail commemorating the story of John Hendrix and the community whose sacrifice helped win World War II.
As you meander along Hendrix Creek you will discover eight trail markers which tell the story of a farmer named John who came to be called "The Prophet of Oak Ridge." You will hear the story of a community who gave up their land for the secret city now called Oak Ridge, Tennessee — where the uranium was produced for the first atomic bombs so the massive killings of WWII could be brought to an end.
Along the trail you may watch for wildlife, hear the water running down the creek, look for the Hendrix rose bushes and wildflowers, fruit trees, chestnuts, and periwinkle ground cover in bloom. Several benches are available to rest along the trail. Train tracks still lay right beside John Hendrix's old farm site.
Eight Trail Markers
Young John and his wife JuliaAnn lived a primitive life on their small 30 acre farm until they lost their youngest of four children to diphtheria. JuliaAnn was overcome with grief and took the children with her to Arkansas, never to see John again.
As is common when someone is suffering, John turned to God for answers. What he heard was a "thunderous" voice telling him if he would lie on the ground for 40 nights that God would tell him the future of his land. So he did it.
Read John's prophecies and how he foretold "What they build here will help toward winning one of the greatest wars that will ever be…I've seen it; it's coming."
John became known as "The Prophet" and received mixed reactions from the community. Nine-year-old James Braden got the last spankin' he ever got for believin' John.
John remarried Martha Jane Whitehead Gregory from the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. She brought six of her seven children with her and the oldest was already nearby. They brought new life back to the farm. Together she and John had a boy they named Curtis.
All indoor family life took place in a 10'x16' one-room cabin. That is until John's stepchildren built three more small houses on his 60 acres. The groundcover was common periwinkle, which meant they did not have to mow a lawn.
The government took John's farm and 59,000 acres to build the visions John had seen. His son Curtis was displaced with everyone else but came back to get a job in the secret city. Curt wrote a letter to his mother saying, "I'm glad the Flatwoods country is helping knock the props from under Hitler and his gang. He can't stand it much longer. If whatever they make (at Y-12) is as Uncle Bill Cheshire's moonshine used to be, Good-bye Hitler!"
John had predicted he would not be alive to see the visions fulfilled, and he died in 1915 during World War 1. When that war ended there were no factories built, no city, thousands of people had not moved into Robertsville. But when the prophecies were fulfilled during World War 2, John became known as The Prophet of Oak Ridge. His gravesite is up the road to the left of 127 Hendrix Drive.
John's Gravesite
After finishing the trail, venture up the street to John's gravesite, located to the left of 127 Hendrix Drive. Until recently a boxwood bush planted there by John's six-year-old son Curtis when John died in 1915 grew to billow 50+ feet in the air. A local school group purchased the gravestone in 1970. Pictured is a great-granddaughter of John Hendrix.
Get Directions to the Trail