Over the years, several bodies have been found under the library

According to the city website, the Riverview Cemetery is the 3rd cemetery in Green River, Wyoming. The first was located northwest of Centennial Park. The second was located where the Sweetwater County Library is located today.

The move of the second cemetery to the current location began in 1926. In 1944 the second cemetery’s land was developed into a local park and later home to a veteran housing project. Eventually the Sweetwater County Library was built on the grounds.

Headstone with library books in background.Photo byColorado Martini

The first cemetery was located near the banks of the Green River. According to historical records and journals they have determined that this cemetery was used by the Overland Stage station from 1862 to 1865 for emigrants and travels. One 1865 journal entry reads:

At the foot of the mountain, a little ways from our camp, there is a graveyard with about a dozen graves. It is a beautiful spot, with the mountain for an enduring monument.

As the Town of Green River grew a second Green River Cemetery was established at the site where Sweetwater County Library stands today. By 1913, the town began preparing a third cemetery at a new location. In 1926, bodies and headstones were moved from the second cemetery to the new Riverview Cemetery.

In 1944, construction began for on a housing project for WWII veterans and their families. At that time more remains were located. Those remains were also moved to the newer Riverview Cemetery.

I did a search on Find-a-Grave.com of the Riverview Cemetery and found 346 matching deaths before the opening of the Riverview Cemetery (opened 1926). I am assuming that these 346 were not originally buried in the Riverview Cemetery, but reinterned. Looking through the results, I noticed that many had headstones. But in turn, many did not. The oldest was Abraham Evans who was born in 1807 and died in 1856. This death date even predates the first cemetery. There is no picture of Abraham’s headstone. Which usually means there isn’t one.

It is hard to determine if there are any more remains that have been left behind. But if you do a simple search of the internet, you will find that many believe several have been left behind and haunting the library. The library was known to keep a ghost log on their website. But I was not able to locate the ghost log page.

Do you think they should look for the rest of the bodies? Let us know in the comments.

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