Riverview Cemetery (Wilmington, Delaware)

Riverview Cemetery is a historic cemetery located at 3300 North Market Street in Wilmington, Delaware.

Riverview Cemetery
Riverview Cemetery Entranceway sign
Riverview Cemetery (Wilmington, Delaware) is located in Delaware
Riverview Cemetery (Wilmington, Delaware)
Riverview Cemetery (Wilmington, Delaware) is located in the United States
Riverview Cemetery (Wilmington, Delaware)
Location3300 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
Coordinates39°45′27″N 75°31′42″W
Area42 acres (17 ha)
Websitewww.riverviewcem.com
NRHP reference No.12000378[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 3, 2012

Description

The cemetery is 42 acres in size and contains over 36,000 burials.[2] The cemetery was founded in 1872 by a consortium of eighteen fraternal organizations of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.[2] It is currently owned and operated by the Friends of Historic Riverview Cemetery.[3]

The cemetery consists of two plots intersected by North Market Street. The southeast section consists of a long, roughly rectangular plot[4] and the landscaping of this area was designed by Herman J. Schwarzmann. It is the only known example of his work in Delaware. The northeast section of the cemetery is a trapezoidal shaped parcel that was purchased in 1899 and laid out by the cemetery's superintendent, Goldsmith C. Nailor.[2] The northeast section contains the state's first community mausoleum, a Classical Revival structure built in 1917 to a pattern design by the American Mausoleum Company of Clyde, Ohio.[5]

Riverview Cemetery received two patents; one in 1921 for the manufacture of cement vaults and a second in 1922 for a joint that prevented moisture seepage into cement vaults. In 1921, the First and Central Presbyterian church in Rodney Square was demolished and half of the burials in the graveyard were moved to section G of Riverview Cemetery.[6][7]

There are 35 American Civil War veterans buried in Riverview Cemetery.[8]

In the 1950s, Riverview Cemetery was the first cemetery in Delaware to be racially integrated.[6]

A chapel and office was built near the entrance to the cemetery in 1951 and was renovated into a visitor and information center in 2018.[5]

The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.[1][8]

Notable burials
  • Historical Marker
    Historical Marker
  • Community masoleum
    Community masoleum

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Riverview Cemetery". www.archives.delaware.gov. Delaware Public Archives. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  3. "NRHP nomination for Riverview Cemetery Company of Wilmington, Delaware" (PDF). Delaware Online. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  4. "Welcome to Historic Riverview Cemetery". Friends of Historic Riverview Cemetery. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  5. "History of Riverview Cemetery". www.riverviewcem.com. Friends of Historic Riverview Cemetery. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  6. Duffy, Shirley. "Historic Riverview Cemetery: Enhancing the Benefits and Landscape". www.udspace.udel.edu. University of Delaware. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  7. Popek, Daniel M. (2015). They "...fought bravely, but were unfortunate:" The True Story of Rhode Island's "Black Regiment" and the Failure of Segregation in Rhode Island's Continental Line, 1777-1783. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4969-0899-5. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  8. "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form". www.upload.documents.cimpress.io. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
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