At the September 21 Riga Cemetery Board meeting, the board voted to honor those service men and women (police – local, county, state, firemen and first responders) who provide a critical service to the community the opportunity to purchase a burial plot in the Riga Cemetery at the same discounted price currently offered to veterans. The Board believes the Riga Cemetery is the only cemetery in the area that now provides a discounted burial plot price to veterans, police, firemen and first responders.
For over two hundred years, a plot of land located in Riga Centre has served as the resting place for many of Riga’s early pioneers. Riga Cemetery, located on a slope near the corner of Churchville-Riga Road (Route 36) and Chili-Riga Center Road (Route 33A), is a peaceful, well taken care of cemetery with a rich history. The creation of a Riga cemetery can trace back to the year 1806 when its first pioneers entered West Pulteney (now called the Town of Riga).
By November of 1806, the Congregational Society of West Pulteney was formed at Riga Centre. This religious society initiated the search and creation of a cemetery. The society purchased one acre of land from Amasa Frost – located approximately 220 yards north of the present day intersection of Chili-Riga Center Road and Riga-Mumford Road. By 1808, the land became the society’s burial ground.
However, by June of 1811, the burial ground became abandoned because the road leading to the cemetery was discontinued. The society then purchased a new one acre plot of land from Amasa Frost for $20. A subscription taken allowed 45 adults to donate a total of $28.90 to cover the cost. The balance went to pay for fencing the property; now the present-day location of the Riga Cemetery.
In November of 1813, the Riga Congregational Church members voted to disinter the bodies in the former burial ground and place them into the new cemetery. From the records, it appears that about ten individuals were removed from the site including Richard Church, father of Elihu and Samuel Church (founder of the Village of Churchville) and the first person to die in the Town of Riga.
For some seventy-nine years, the members of the Riga Congregational Church had the task of taking care of the cemetery. Then in 1887, an organization called the Riga Cemetery Association officially assumed the duties of caretakers of the cemetery. Today, this organization still exists and all residents in the Town of Riga owe a debt of gratitude for the love and devotion they have given to the eternal home of many of its ancestors.
The Riga Cemetery currently has a section of burial plots reserved for veterans and their spouses at a discounted price. This price is for the purchase of a plot for one person and provides burial plot ground maintenance in perpetuity.
To inquire about a burial plot or for general information about the Riga Cemetery, contact Eleanor Filowick, President of the Independent Non-Profit Riga Cemetery at 303-4638.
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