Riverside Cemetery
Why it's listed
Riverside Cemetery is a 68-acre rural cemetery just south of Oswego, New York, designed in 1855 by Burton A. Thomas for the Oswego Rural Cemetery Association. Thomas worked with the hilly, glacial terrain, creating winding carriage roads, grassy footpaths, two small lakes crossed by stone bridges, and plantings of maples, spruce and pine. Notable features include the 1906 Page Memorial Chapel, a Gothic Revival stone building by Fielding Mantle of Philadelphia with Tiffany Studios windows, an 1875 receiving vault, a 1925 Colonial Revival superintendent's residence, service barns, mausolea and many monuments. About 17,000 graves are present. The cemetery was created when older burial grounds in Oswego were filling up and the city's canal and railroad trade had produced wealthy families who expressed their status through lots and monuments. The period from 1855 to 1940 marks its main development, ending when large mausolea were no longer built.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents it as a well-preserved example of the rural cemetery movement, with winding roads, lakes, wooded drumlin hills and planned plantings that follow Thomas's 1855 design. It also holds the burial plots, mausolea and monuments of Oswego's prominent families from the city's prosperous era. The period of significance runs from 1855 to 1940, when large mausolea stopped being built and markers became more modest.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 93000854, listed August 19, 1993. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | E. River Rd. S of jct. with NY 57, Oswego |
|---|---|
| County | Oswego County |
| Listed | August 19, 1993 |
| Reference number | 93000854 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1855-1940 |
| Architect / builder | Burton A. Thomas (landscape architect); Fielding Mantle (Page Memorial Chapel) |
| Architectural style | Rural cemetery landscape design; Page Memorial Chapel is Gothic Revival; superintendent's residence is Colonial Revival |
| Areas of significance | Landscape Architecture, Art, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still an active cemetery; the chapel is described as generally in good condition, with some mortar, wainscot and staircase deterioration. |
| Acreage | 68.4 |
| Coordinates | 43.42305, -76.47551 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 93000854.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7338442
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.