Welcome to the Riverdale-Porterdale Foundation. Our organization is dedicated to helping preserve three Columbus, Georgia, cemeteries: Riverdale, Porterdale and East Porterdale. The oldest of these is Porterdale, a large historically Black cemetery. Located on the west side of 10th Avenue at the intersection of Victory Drive, the oldest marked grave in this cemetery is dated 1836. In 1946 Porterdale was extended to a field across 10th Avenue; the extension was called East Porterdale. Meanwhile, in 1890, concerned about space issues in Linwood Cemetery, Columbus’s first cemetery, city fathers had established Riverdale Cemetery. They located it on the east side of 10th Avenue, at the Victory Drive intersection, across from Porterdale. In addition to cemetery preservation, our organization is interested in promoting an awareness of the cemeteries’ historical significance and in telling the stories of some of Columbus’ notable citizens who are buried in these three special places.

To carry out our mission, we work closely with the Columbus Consolidated Government, which has ownership of the cemeteries. While the City is responsible for administering the cemeteries and providing basic maintenance, our foundation works to enhance the cemeteries through special beautification projects. We are also working collaboratively with the City to provide better access to burial records and other information about the individuals buried in Riverdale, Porterdale and East Porterdale Cemeteries.

We hope that you will explore our web site to learn more about these three cemeteries and the people buried in them. We also hope that you’ll visit in person – to view some of the artful gravestones, read the interesting epithets, and experience the beauty and peacefulness of these three historically-significant burial grounds.