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About

Riverside Cemetery is a garden-style cemetery serving as both a burial ground and public park.

Please note that dogs and other domestic animals are not allowed in Riverside Cemetery with the exception of animals assisting persons impaired in sight, hearing, or mobility.

Asheville Parks & Recreation continues to ensure the cemetery is safe and beautiful for everyone to enjoy following Helene-related destruction. To maintain sensitivity of gravesites and ensure safety of both the public and work crews, some areas of the grounds may be off limits to community members while work takes place.

For more on efforts to restore and rebuild, visit the Riverside Cemetery and Montford Park Historic Parks Recovery project page.

Features

  • Benches
  • Paved trails

History

Learn more about the community-guided process to bring the park to life by reading Park Views: Riverside Cemetery.

Features

  • Paved Walking Path(s)
  • Unique Feature(s)
  • Wheelchair Accessible

Location Type

  • Park

Location Information

53 Birch Street
Asheville, NC 28801

(828) 259-5800

parks@ashevillenc.gov

Day Operating Hours
Sunday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Monday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Tuesday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Wednesday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Thursday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Friday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm

Explore

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Historic Tour

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Records

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A black and white photo of riverside cemetery.

More Information

Riverside Cemetery is not just a place where families come to visit a friend or a loved one. It is a place of beauty – a place where you can walk, take photographs, paint and visit the grave sites of prominent writers Thomas Wolfe and O. Henry. Walking Tours are available at the cemetery office and can offer a unique journey into Asheville’s past. More than 4,000 visitors tour the cemetery each year.

City of Asheville’s Riverside Cemetery is located in the Montford
Historic District, a short walk or drive from downtown. The cemetery
features more than 87 acres of landscaped grounds. The cemetery averages approximately 50 services each year.

Services offered include grave sales, historical and genealogical research, cemetery tours, landscape maintenance, and assistance with monument purchases. Call (828) 259-5800 to schedule an appointment. (Riverside Cemetery is not currently transferring or selling new Lots at this time, we apologize for any inconvenience.)

A older black and white photo of three people standing behind a tombstone.

History

Riverside Cemetery was founded on August 4th, 1885 by the Asheville Cemetery Company. It was planned as a garden style cemetery which would serve well as both a burial ground and public park. After almost 70 years of ownership, the Asheville Cemetery Company sold Riverside to the City of Asheville in 1952. The City made many improvements to the cemetery, including opening new sections for interments and paving over 3.5 miles of roads inside the cemetery gates. Riverside was named a Buncombe County Treasure Tree Preserve in 1997. Today, we are operated by the City of Asheville Parks and Recreation Department.

Records

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