Local Mortuaries

Click Here to see a listing of mortuaries near Macon, Georgia.

Local Flower Shops

Click Here to see a listing of local flower shops. Using a local shop will help ensure that your arrangement follows our guidelines.

Online Help and Tutorials

Click Here to start our online help and tutorials. Here you will learn about identifiers that make up the lot descriptions. You will also learn how to get the most out of your genealogy searches and use of the maps.

General Information and Questions

Use the following links to help answer any questions you may have concerning the cemetery. These are links that we believe will help you better understand Riverside Cemetery.

General Database/Search Help
General Problems

If you are having trouble viewing our webpage, make sure your browser is up to date. Older versions of certain browsers may not allow you to view or use parts of our website. If you have updated your browser and are still having problems, please contact us. Our site has been designed to work with Mozilla Firefox 2.1, Internet Explorer 6.0, Safari 3.0, and Opera 9.27.

Note: If you are using Internet Explorer 6.0, our Sectional Maps will not work properly. This is due to the way IE6 interprets certain types of images. This problem has been fixed in Internet Explorer 7.0.

 

Searching our Database

You are more likely to find the person you are looking for by searching with just the last name. The name of a person in our records may not be the name he or she was known by. Some people are listed under more than one name because they may have remarried. Others like to be buried using their maiden name. Discrepancies in name usage cause the first name and middle name searches to be inaccurate. Also, if you are unsure of the date of birth, date of death, or date of interment, it is best to search using just the name. If you only know what block, section, or mausoleum the person you are looking for is located in, use only block, section, or mausoleum to search. For example, if you search using only the block “Althea”, only people located in “Althea” will show up on the results page. The date of birth, date of death, date of interment, block, section, and mausoleum search options are to help you find the person you are looking for if a name only search is unsuccessful.

Help us help you

If you have additional topics about your search and are planning to stop by our office, a printed interment record of each person you are looking for can help. This will allow us to find the information you are looking for in a timely manner.

Picture download speeds

Pictures of markers and family monuments in our database are large in size. The large size helps to keep the quality of the pictures. The larger size helps to make some of the markers easier to read. Pictures can take up to 6 minutes to download on a 56K modem connection.

Print time

The large picture size may cause the page to print slowly. The computer has to send the information to the printer in order for it to print. A larger amount of information, or the larger the file, will cause the sending of information to take longer. Only click the print button once and be patient. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Interment Options
In-Ground Casket Burial

Traditional (in-ground with upright monumentation)

  1. Individual
  2. Companion
  3. Family plot

Memorial Park Style (in-ground with flush monumentation)

  1. Individual
  2. Companion
  3. Family plot
Above-Ground Casket Burial

Entombment (above ground mausolea and caskets)

  1. Individual, Companion, %amp Family
  2. Garden Community Mausoleum (no heat, light or power)
  3. Private Mausoleum/Sarcophagus (no heat, light or power)
In-Ground Cremation

Note: Cemeteries typically allow cremated remains to be integrated with air in-ground casket burial, but usually on a limited basis.

Traditional (in-ground with upright monumentation)

  1. Individual
  2. Companion
  3. Family plot

Memorial Park Style (in-ground with flush monumentation)

  1. Individual
  2. Companion
  3. Family plot

Garden Setting (in-ground w/ mix of flush %amp upright monumentation)

  1. Individual
  2. Companion
  3. Family plot
Above-Ground Cremation

Individual. Companion %amp Family

  1. Garden Community Mausoleum (no heat, light or power)
  2. Private Mausoleum/Sarcophagus (no heat, light or power)
  3. Columbarium wall
  4. Private Columbarium
Cemetery Descriptions and Terminology
In-Ground Casket Burial
  1. Single depth lawn burial - Single burial with upright headstone or flush marker at burial plot.
  2. Double depth lawn burial - Same as above, but with two interments possible, one on top of the other, thus maximizing space in traditional burial sections of the cemetery.
  3. Vaults - The majority of today's traditional burial practices require the use of a grave liner/vault to be installed prior to the interment of the casket. These grave liners consist of steel, plastic, or concrete, with the most common being concrete due to its known durability and ease of fabrication. Vaults may be delivered to the cemetery and lowered in the grave plot to receive the casket during the interment ceremony, or they may be preinstalled as part of a crypt garden.
  4. Lawn Crypt Garden - Vaults may be preinstalled with the development of a cemetery section, minimizing excavation during the interment process and easing the burial process.
  5. Lawn burial with separate memorialization - A lawn burial area with headstones integrated into an adjacent landscaped area or central feature in order to help ease maintenance and burial operations.
Family Estates
  1. Walled family estates - These areas typically include preinstalled concrete vaults, walls, landscaping, etc. The garden can be customized with a common headstone, bench, etc. at time of need. These estates typically range from 4 to 8 spaces with single or double depth burials. Cremations are sometimes included in the landscaped area within the walled estate.
  2. "Old" style family plots - These typically consist of a high curb with some type of small ironwork surrounding family burial plots, similar to walled family estates but less ornate.
Above-Ground Casket Burial
  1. Family Mausoleum - Family mausoleums are usually purchased at timee of need and are easily integrated into the cemetery. They are available in various styles, sizes, and shapes to accommodate the family's needs.
  2. Community Mausoluem - An enclosed or garden style building with or without heat, light, and power, offering indoor wall crypts for caskets, sometimes including niches for cremated remains as well. Memorialization is typically an engraved plaque on the wall (approx. 24 "x 24") behind which the casket(s) are placed in a crypt. Companion crypts are usually offered, providing double loaded vaults (horizontally end to end) for two caskets. Mausoleums vary in size and products, some offering separate rooms for entire families, while others offer only standard crypts for caskets. Some mausoleums include a chapel for indoor services.
In-Ground Cremation

Pending site conditions and maintenance practices, the following grounc memorialization product options can accommodate interments below or adjacent to the monument area in a garden or lawn setting. Often th( monument may be solely memorialization for unmarked interments elsewhere in the garden, such as a common lawn area.

  1. Post Marker - Post markers are available in individual and companion sizes. The memorialization is engraved directly on the marker or a plaque is attached. Tlie interments are typically buried behind the marker or can be incorporated into the marker if it is cored.
  2. Granite coping - Granite curb coping can accommodate individual or companion memorialization, which can be engraved directly onto the coping or on a bronze plaque placed on the coping, with the interments directly behind the curb.
  3. Granite tablet - Granite tablets are small flush markers with an attached bronze plaque placed in a landscaped setting. The tablets can accommodate individual or companion memorialization, with the interments typically buried underneath the tablet.
  4. Upright bronze cremorial - The cremorial accommodates individual cremains within the base of the cremorial. Bronze cremorials are placed in a landscape setting.
  5. Lawn cremorial - The lawn cremorial is flush plaque attached to the top of a block of granite with the cremains placed in a core in the block. One monument is typically 18"-24" square, and spaced 3-4' on center for grass in between monuments. Since markers are flush with the ground, maintenance is simplified. This product offers higher density than casket burial in the more traditional lawn setting; thus, this is a more economical burial option. A section may be reserved for this type of interment or integrated into a cremation garden.
  6. Fountain memorial - Memorials are placed around a garden water feature attached to the coping of the fountain and on adjacent pavers, post markers, or other monuments. The interments are typically buried in the common lawn or landscaped burial area in the garden. Memorialization can be for individual, companion, or a family.
  7. Bench estate - Bench estates can accommodate families of varying size, typically 4-8 members. The interments are typically buried behind the bench while the family members are individually memorialized on pavers or plaques in front of the bench.
  8. Tree estate - Tree estates can accommodate families of varying size, typically 4-8 members. Post markers or flush tablets are placed at the base of the tree with the family's name or the individual family members' names engraved on them.
  9. Bloulder estate - Boulder estates can accommodate individuals, companions, or families of varying size, typically 4-8 members. Memorialization plaques with individual or family names are attached to the boulder. The interments can be buried around the boulder or holes can be cored into the boulder to accommodate the cremains. The plaques permanently cover the cored holes.
Ossuaries and Cenotaphs
  1. Ossuary - Ossuaries are one of the least expensive options for cremated remains disposition. The ossuary concept utilizes a precast concrete holding structure/vault installed below ground for communal cremated remains. Access pipe(s) are installed to accept the cremated remains, usually incorporated within columns or pilasters. A typical ossuary can accommodate up to 300 cremains interments. The options for memorialization of an ossuary interment can include engraved pavers, bronze plaque on a paver, bronze plaque on trellis work, individual engraved cenotaphs, bronze plaques on a memorial book cenotaph, etc.
  2. Cenotaph - A cenotaph is a common memorial serving many people, usually consisting of a large slab of granite with engraved names or attached memorial plaques. Cenotaphs are available in all shapes and sizes. Cenotaphs are usually provided near an ossuary that contains the cremains. Interments can also be buried in the lawn area or elsewhere in the garden where multiple burials may occur.
Above-Ground Cremation
  1. Niche wall/Pilaster niche - A niche wall and pilaster niches typically accommodate individual or companion cremains but can also accommodate family cremains. The niche is a void in a wall in which cremated remains are placed and covered with a bronze memorial plaque purchased at time of need. There are two types of niche walls: prefabricated and custom. Custom niche walls can utilize local materials and is often more aesthetically pleasing for the garden atmosphere. Prefabricated concrete niche walls can be installed and faced with a natural or cultured stone to fit in with the design palette of the garden or adjacent buildings.
Questions concerning Riverside Cemetery and Rose Hill Cemetery
Riverside Cemetery
  1. Do you still have grave spaces to sell?
    Yes, we most definitely do. We have some scattered spaces in Northgate and in the Main Gate area. The majority of our spaces for sale are inside the Main Gate in an area known as Daffodil.
  2. Where is your office located?
    Our office is located on the corner of Riverside Drive and Madison Street, which is one block north of the College Street traffic light. Our office is housed in the brick and half-timbered twin gatehouses that were built in 1897. Our physical address is 1301 Riverside Drive.
  3. Where is the Main Gate of Riverside Cemetery?
    Our Main Gate is located just north of the gatehouses that serve as our office. The entrance is a columned brick feature with a separate entry and exit area.
  4. Where is the Northgate area of Riverside Cemetery?
    Northgate is the area of Riverside Cemetery closest to Ingleside Avenue. It is bordered on the south side by I-75 and on the north by Acme Paint and Decorating.
Questions concerning Rose Hill Cemetery
  1. Are Riverside Cemetery and Rose Hill Cemetery one and the same?
    No. Riverside Cemetery is a private, not-for-profit 501(c)(13) cemetery corporation owned and operated exclusively for the benefit of its lot owners who hold lots for bona fide burial purposes. Rose Hill Cemetery, our next-door-neighbor, is a municipal cemetery owned and managed by the City of Macon.
  2. Where is Duane Allman buried?
    Duane Allman, a deceased member of the Allman Brothers Band, is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery. We do not have maps or directions leading to his grave site.
  3. Do we have records for Rose Hill or any other cemetery?
    We only have interment records and obituaries for those persons actually buried at Riverside Cemetery. To get information on someone buried at Rose Hill, Evergreen, Fort Hill or any other Macon cemetery you will need to contact that cemetery directly or you can visit the Washington Memorial Library for additional assistance.

Also Visit

These are great resources for finding answers to your questions. The International Cemetery and Funeral Association contains a plethera of information for both consumers and for those in the cemetery and furneral industry.

Genealogy Links

Listed below are some great tools to help complete your genealogy search. The use of these sites and our own database search will help you to find who you are searching for.

Grief Support

Help dealing with the loss of a loved one. This page also contains links to additional resources.