Riverside Cemetery
Photo added by Barbara From Mich

Riverside Cemetery

Also known as Kalamazoo Town Cemetery

Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, USA

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Riverside Cemetery is the larger of the two city-owned cemeteries. It is located at 1015 Gull Rd, with entrances on both Gull Road and Riverview Drive.

In 1861 the Kalamazoo Township Board of Health appointed a committee with the task of purchasing land for a new public cemetery. They had determined that the old South West Street Cemetery was no longer sufficient for the needs of the growing community and that a new, larger site was needed. Twenty-six acres were purchased from Jeremiah P. Woodbury and were surveyed and laid out for use by 1862. The new cemetery was named Riverside and is located on what is now the corner of Gull Road and Riverview Drive on Kalamazoo's east side. This area was particularly important to the history of Kalamazoo. It is the location of a good ford in the Kalamazoo River, where several Indian trails converged, and was the primary reason why the village was established here instead of some other location.

The original 250 lots sold for as little as three dollars. Some of the oldest graves in Riverside are people who were originally buried in the old South West Street Cemetery and then were moved to Riverside after the old cemetery closed.

Riverside currently covers approximately 90 acres and contains the graves of more than 84,000 Kalamazoo citizens.

Riverside Cemetery is the larger of the two city-owned cemeteries. It is located at 1015 Gull Rd, with entrances on both Gull Road and Riverview Drive.

In 1861 the Kalamazoo Township Board of Health appointed a committee with the task of purchasing land for a new public cemetery. They had determined that the old South West Street Cemetery was no longer sufficient for the needs of the growing community and that a new, larger site was needed. Twenty-six acres were purchased from Jeremiah P. Woodbury and were surveyed and laid out for use by 1862. The new cemetery was named Riverside and is located on what is now the corner of Gull Road and Riverview Drive on Kalamazoo's east side. This area was particularly important to the history of Kalamazoo. It is the location of a good ford in the Kalamazoo River, where several Indian trails converged, and was the primary reason why the village was established here instead of some other location.

The original 250 lots sold for as little as three dollars. Some of the oldest graves in Riverside are people who were originally buried in the old South West Street Cemetery and then were moved to Riverside after the old cemetery closed.

Riverside currently covers approximately 90 acres and contains the graves of more than 84,000 Kalamazoo citizens.

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  • Added: 24 May 2003
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 1963665