RIVERSIDE CEMETERY DRIVE

I’ve made an interesting historical discovery. Question: How many Coffins are buried in Riverside Cemetery? 15,000? 16,000? No, the answer is just TWO! How can that be? The answer/reason is found at the end of this article.

As the weather gets warmer, more and more people go to Riverside Cemetery to tidy up their family burial plots in time for Memorial Day. We all experienced how important the bridge over the Kalamazoo River by the Cemetery was when it was closed for reconstruction a couple of years ago. People driving into our community along M-99 can see the beauty of the millpond, as well as the well-kept cemetery grounds. The "Welcome to Albion" sign and the Veteran’s Memorial Stage with its proudly-flying flags are showpieces for our community.

That stretch of M-99 by the Cemetery wasn’t always M-99. In fact, it wasn’t until the 1930s that state traffic was routed that way. Beforehand "M-9" as it was called turned onto Irwin Avenue and followed the "back way" into Homer. M-99 by the Cemetery was once called Riverside Drive, aptly named by its location along the river millpond, and alongside Riverside Cemetery.

The road wasn’t always paved, either. From our Historical Notebook this week we present a postcard photograph taken around 1908. It shows the unpaved road with the caption reading "View on Riverside Drive, Albion, Mich." This photo was shot at the Cemetery entrance and looks south. Notice the white wooden fence on the left marking the boundary of the Cemetery. This fence was in existence through World War I, after which it was removed. Notice also the dirt road and the buggy tracks. Just imagine how difficult it would have been to navigate this stretch during the spring rains.

Oh, regarding the number of Coffins in Riverside Cemetery. There are just two: Thomas Edward (1838-1899) Coffin, and his wife Laura (Aldrich) Coffin (1840-1907). They are interred in Block 93 and Lot 7. Thomas was a Civil War veteran, and served in Company D of the 21st Illinois Infantry. Now you know.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 \| Advertise on AlbionMich.com