Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Riverside Cemetery

1876. The United States would celebrate its first centennial, Colorado would achieve statehood and Denver would begin to evolve from a rough mining camp to a respectable city. The stability was an incentive for business and families to put down roots and create permanent institutions: churches, schools and cemeteries. 1876 was a fitting year for the founding of Riverside Cemetery.
Globeville would evolve as well, from an area populated with prospectors and homesteaders to an industrial hub with smelters, railroads and meat packing plants, incorporating as a town in July, 1891. Many of Globeville's early settlers are buried at nearby Riverside Cemetery, in the company of mayors, Colorado governors, moguls, madams and military veterans. You can visit the well known and the humble at this historic and park-like burial ground. 
Riverside Cemetery will celebrate its 135th anniversary this Saturday, October 1, from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm with free history displays, vintage baseball and historic tours. For information, see 
http://fairmountheritagefoundation.org




Top photo by Mary Lou Egan: office, chapel and crematorium
Bottom photo by Mary Lou Egan: chapel
at

4 comments:

  1. Elia FisherOctober 1, 2011 at 11:02 PM

    Interesting. Just a week ago I visited Riverside Cemetery to locate the grave of Ellis P. Horne, the founder of the Horne's Subdivision, previously known as Tacoma Heights. Horne's subdivision was bounded by 45th Avenue on the north, which served as an alignment for the Denver & Interurban Railroad line that served Globeville. Riverside definitely has rich historic ties to the neighborhood.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mary Lou EganOctober 3, 2011 at 1:32 PM

    That's fascinating - I imagine when Horne platted his subdivision the area was pretty rural. Did you find Ellis P. Horne?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Elia FisherOctober 8, 2011 at 9:31 AM

    Yes, finally, but it took me two tries. During the development of the Horne's Subdivision much of the area was known as the Town of Argo. Argo was a mix of heavy industry, farm land, and single family households. Remnants of the old lifestyle can still be found here and there- from old rail heads jutting out of the asphalt to a trail of old cottonwoods that were once fed by a farmers irrigation canal. One such ditch originated from the South Platte River near the present day Flour Mill lofts and traversed along Fox Street for a short distance before cutting diagonally across east Argo and parts of Globeville. The area experienced its biggest change when the super highways came through during the 1950's which cut the neighborhood into several pieces. Hopefully the forthcoming commuter rail transit projects can restore some of the old livability that Globeville once enjoyed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mary Lou EganOctober 9, 2011 at 8:50 PM

    Wow - hearing about the old ditch is like finding a remnant of a lost civilization. There used to be a bus, number five that was labeled "Argo" and went out at least as far as Regis College. Thanks for the information.

    ReplyDelete