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Riverside Cemetery
Saugatuck, Allegan County, Michigan
Clearbrook Drive, Saugatuck
269-857-7721, fax (269) 857-4542
Lat: 42° 40' 08"N, Lon: 86° 11' 32"W
Sagatuck Twp, T3N R16W Sec 3
Contributed by Aaron Sheridan, Mar 17, 2004, last edited Sep 30,
2011 [aarons@saugatucktownship.org]
Total records = 2,971.
Take I-196 12 miles South of Holland, MI to the Saugatuck/Douglas
Exit 41. At the stop sign turn South (right) on Hwy A2 (Blue Star
Highway) for 1.3 miles. Then turn West (right) on Clearbrook Drive
and directly on the Southern (left) side of Clearbrook Drive is
the Saugatuck Riverside Cemetery.
When the first settlers arrived in Saugatuck in 1830 there was
an old Indian cemetery on "The Flats," the level area at the foot
of a hill located near the present day City Hall. Settlers began
using the area for burials.
By 1869 a decision was made to have all graves in the old cemetery
removed, either by family or the authorities from the location
in town, to a better location and most went to the present cemetery
site. Records for the new cemetery show burials beginning in 1864.
For many years this cemetery was just known as the Saugatuck
Cemetery, but in a 1920 letter in the Commercial Record it was
proposed that the cemetery be named, and offered the suggestion
"Riverside." This was adopted, though the cemetery is not near
the river.
The remains of the Indian cemetery were excavated during some construction,
in 1930, at the Saugatuck centennial celebration, a boulder with
a bronze plaque in "Memory of the First Indian Burying Ground, 1800
to 1850" was dedicated and a few remains were reburied in a mound
nearby.
This cemetery is owned and maintained by the Saugatuck Township.
The Township Office is at 3461 Blue Star Hwy. Saugatuck, MI 49453.
This transcription is from the township cemetery records, and
is a complete updated list for all records for this cemetery.
- Aaron Sheridan
Records Index:
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