Bored on Buckley: Riverside Cemetery hosts history mystery tour

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Marcy Glass
DENVER - --  Located on Brighton Street near Interstate 70 is Riverside Cemetery. Exiting the freeway, homes and stores give way to factories and warehouses. Orange and white flaming smoke stacks, chain-link fences and the smell of manufacturing engulf the senses.

Driving toward the cemetery at dusk, headstones and monuments are outlined against the horizon by the fading light. An isolated sign marks the entrance to the grounds. The cemetery comes into full view after making a left over a dirt hill and across the railroad tracks.

Built in 1876, Riverside Cemetery has a long and mysterious history and is open to the public for self-guided or nighttime tours. People may ask why someone would want to visit a cemetery at night. Well, the answer is simple and fun. The Riverside Moonlight History & Mystery Tour hosted by the Fairmount Heritage Foundation is a guided tour that takes place within the cemetery and focuses on the history of the individuals resting in peace. Stopping at a candlelit headstone, a tour guide tells the story of the person buried at visitors' feet, as well as the mystery surrounding the person's life and death.

Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans are among the estimated 60,000 people buried at Riverside Cemetery. Thieves and murderers, men and women of high social standing, and even the relocated remains of those once buried at what is now Cheesman Park are now resting at Riverside.

With towering statues, weeping angels and a crypt, Riverside Cemetery needs no ghost stories to give visitors an evening to remember. Patrons are encouraged to bring a flashlight and be prepared when the cemetery gates are locked.

Schedule and tour tickets are available online. For more information or to book a tour, visit http://fairmountheritagefoundation.org/.

Information about Riverside Cemetery was retrieved from http://fairmountheritagefoundation.org/.

 

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