Inside Denver’s Riverside Cemetery: Famous Coloradans, Lost Graves, and Years of Decay

A cemetery that has been part of Colorado since the United States’ centennial of 1876, the same year in which Colorado officially became a state, serves as the final resting place for many notable figures.

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However, unfortunately, the cemetery has been neglected for many years and is also home to a number of unmarked graves.

History of Colorado’s Riverside Cemetery

Riverside Cemetery, located at 5201 Brighton Boulevard in Denver, was founded in the same year in which Colorado joined the United States, 1876.

However, as the area became more industrialized in the late 1800s, many family members of those who were buried there had their loved ones’ remains exhumed and moved, and the cemetery became home to the final resting places for many Coloradans whose remains were buried but unidentified.

As the years passed, the grounds were neglected due to financial reasons, and although employees were hired to remove trash, trees, and grass on the property were not watered, causing the cemetery to become especially eerie.

Famous People are Buried at the Colorado Cemetery

Despite being neglected and having many of its permanent residents’ remains relocated, Riverside Cemetery is still the final resting place of many prominent figures of Colorado’s past.

Read More: Colorado Cemetery Known as Infamous Figure’s Final Resting Place

These include John Evans, the second Governor of the Colorado Territory, Augusta Tabor, the first wife of businessman Horace Tabor, John Long Routt, the first Governor of the state of Colorado, baseball legend John Bass, former mayor of Denver Richard Sopris, and co-founder of Coors Brewery Jacob Schueler.