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Featured image: Page Memorial Chapel at Riverside Cemetery.
Oswego – Riverside Cemetery, located at 4024 County Route 57, is a historic rural cemetery noted for its picturesque, park-like setting. The cemetery is open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset, but with numerous local and historical headstones and monuments spread out over more than 60 acres, it can be a challenge to visit everything. A special guided bus tour of the cemetery has been arranged by the Friends of Riverside Cemetery, in conjunction with the Oswego County Historical Society, on Sunday June 16 to guide visitors through this historic space. Interested members of the public should call Oswego County Historical Society at 315-343-1342 to reserve their $10 ticket. Reservations are capped at 45 guests. Guests should park near Page Memorial Chapel. The tour will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the chapel. Please bring cash or check to pay for your ticket to the event.
This year’s tour will focus on “From Revolution to Republic: How Oswego Became American,” says Adam Gagas of the Friends of Riverside Cemetery. People important in the transition from Oswego’s days as part of the first frontier to the rise of the Port City as a 19th century economic powerhouse will be highlighted in the stories and stops. “This coordinates so well with the themes we are all working on this year for America250,” adds Mary Kay Stone, historical society volunteer, History on Tap co-coordinator, and member of the county’s 250th commission.
Designed by landscape architect Mr. Burton Arnold Thomas, Riverside Cemetery was established in 1855 at the start of the nation’s rural cemetery movement and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. Guests attending the tour will begin in this chapel.The Page Memorial Chapel, located near the entrance to the cemetery, is considered the centerpiece of the cemetery. Completed in 1907, this stone gothic chapel features stained glass windows from Tiffany Studios in New York City. The chapel was donated by the Page family of Oswego in memory of Mr. Alanson Sumner Page, a four-term mayor of Oswego and his wife, Mrs. Elsie Benson Page.
The mission of the Friends of Riverside Cemetery helps defray the costs of maintaining the historic structures, roadways, bridges, and ponds in this non-secular cemetery. The Oswego County Historical Society remains devoted to preserving and promoting the history of the greater Oswego area since the nonprofit was established in 1896.
