Riverside Cemetery began with its first burial in 1837, the year Michigan became a state, after land developer Jesse Crowell bought a one and one-half-acre parcel in 1836, cleared it for burials, and sold it in 1842 to the Albion Cemetery Corporation for two dollars. Originally known as Albion Cemetery and Albion Burying Ground, it was enlarged in 1853, 1885, and 1914 to a total of forty-six acres and was renamed Riverside in 1886 by the city council. Reflecting Albion’s ethnically diverse population, it includes areas known as the Russian Section, German Hill, and a section for African American World War I veterans, while a private Catholic cemetery contains the remains of people from Italy, Lithuania, and Poland. Along with a unique array of tombstones, the grounds include impressive mausolea, an office, a receiving vault, and a fishpond. The cemetery contains the remains of Albion pioneers and veterans as well as distinguished and notorious citizens, including Washington Gardner, who served in the U.S. Congress and as Michigan’s secretary of state, and Michigan State Senator Warren G. Hooper, who was shot gangland style before he could appear before a grand jury and testify regarding corruption.