Riverside Cemetery
Year Listed: 2008
County: Denver County
Status: ALERT
Context: Cemetery
Date Constructed: 1876
Significance:
Incorporated in 1876, Riverside Cemetery is the oldest operating cemetery in the state. Landscape engineer Harvey C. Lowrie created a park-like setting with dense trees, lush grasses, and a central rose garden. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 77 acre site contains a wealth of unique monuments, including Lester Drake’s log cabin replica and the nation’s largest collection of zinc monuments. The administration building, constructed in 1903, was designed by notable Denver architect Frank Edbrooke. Those buried in Riverside read like a “who’s who” of Colorado history: Augusta Tabor, Barney and Julia Ford, Silas Soule, and all four territorial governors – John Evans, A. Cameron Hunt, Samuel H. Elbert, and John L. Routt. Not only is it one of the oldest cemeteries in the state, but at the turn of the 20th century, most pioneer graves from other city cemeteries were relocated to Riverside.
Threat When Listed:
Riverside is operated and owned by the Fairmount Cemetery Company, which also owns and operates Fairmount Cemetery. Unlike Fairmount, Riverside was not started with an endowment for continued care, and its water rights were based on a gentleman’s agreement from the 1890s. In the 1970s, the water rights changed hands, and the new owner was not willing to honor the agreement. Since the loss of their court battle to retain the water rights, the cemetery has been sporadically watered due to extremely high water costs. Most of its original landscape has deteriorated – the grass and trees are dead or dying, and the premiere rose garden is watered by hand. Many are frustrated with the perceived extreme neglect of the state’s most important cemetery - the lack of public knowledge of and involvement in preservation activities and the significant deterioration of the landscape.
Since Listing:
Last Update:
February 2008