Saugatuck Township Government Information

Cemeteries

Contact the Township Hall for Riverside

& Douglas Cemeteries

Saugatuck Township Hall
3461 Blue Star Memorial Hwy.
Saugatuck, Michigan 49453
269.857.7721 (Tel)

269.857.4542 (Fax)

clerk@saugatucktownship.org

	Douglas Cemetery and the North Annex Physical Location: Wiley Road - Douglas, Michigan

Directions
Take exit 36 off of interstate 196 and head North on Blue Star Hwy (A2), then take a right on 130th (also called Wiley Rd.) heading East for about 1.5 miles.

Veteran's Lists
Download the Veteran List for the Douglas Cemetery. Click here.

History
The first cemetery in Douglas was across the street from where the Masonic Lodge/Village Hall stands today, the hill has been graded down- perhaps this was why the lot across Center Street from the Masonic Lodge was never built upon.

The first burials in this new cemetery were in 1868, and some were apparently moved from previous places of interment. The new location seemed far from the Village, over the highway, but is in the most common place, and on the outskirts far enough not to pollute any wells.

Although the monuments are not as varied as those at Riverside Cemetery, there are still many interesting gravestones of interesting people. Of these are the monuments of William Dutcher and his family, one of the founding families of the settlement of Douglas, and the founding family of the Village of Douglas.

	1. William Fuller Dutcher, from Pennsylvania of Dutch descent, moved to Chicago in 1852 and came to Michigan and bought the north half of a settlement founded a few years earlier by Jonathan Wade.
	2. Lucinda Dietrich Dutcher, his wife, also her name is misspelled. It is spelled correctly on the nearby tombstone. Also included in the party was her sister, Mrs. Maria Graham and several of her children including Hugh Graham and Mrs. Jonas Crouse.
	3. Eliza Adams Dutcher, the wife of their son George Nelson Dutcher. Eliza was born in Ohio and probably met George and the rest of as the family as they moved through the state on their way to Michigan.
	4. William B. Upson, the brother of Captain Lewis Upson, who married a Dutcher daughter.

The Douglas Cemetery is very shady, thus making it difficult to grow anything of note except flowers. This shade and dampness takes a toll on the older stones, and as a result, the natural decay is worse than in Saugatuck. But things are changing, and already several hazardous trees have been removed. Presently, conditions are much improved in the main Cemetery with increased open space and properly trimmed Evergreens.

Too many trees are definitely not a problem in the North Annex, however, where the Village of Douglas received a gift in 1973 from the McNamara family to expand the Douglas Cemetery. In this location there was already a small burial ground, including graves dated 1939, 1954 and 1962, and another, that was added in October of 1973. This new addition gave the new cemetery a jumpstart, and is directly North of the Douglas Cemetery.

~This information was provided by local historian, Kit Lane.

		Riverside Cemetery Physical Location: Clearbrook Drive & Blue Star Hwy - Saugatuck, Michigan

Directions
Take I-196 12 miles South of Holland, MI to the Saugatuck/Douglas Exit 41. At the stop sign turn South (right) on Hwy A2 (Blue Star Highway) for 1.3 miles. Then turn West (right) on Clearbrook Drive and directly on the Southern (left) side of Clearbrook Drive is the Saugatuck Riverside Cemetery.

Veteran's List
Download the Veteran List for the Riverside Cemetery. Click here.

History
When the first settlers arrived in Saugatuck in 1830 there was an old Indian cemetery on "The Flats," the level area at the foot of a hill located near the present day City Hall. Settlers began using the area for burials.

By 1869 a decision was made to have all graves in the old cemetery removed, either by family or the authorities from the location in town, to a better location and most went to the present cemetery site. Records for the new cemetery show burials beginning in 1864.

For many years this cemetery was just known as the Saugatuck Cemetery, but in a 1920 letter in the Commercial Record it was proposed that the cemetery be named, and offered the suggestion "Riverside." This was adopted, though the cemetery is not near the river.

The remains of the Indian cemetery were excavated during some construction, in 1930, at the Saugatuck centennial celebration, a boulder with a bronze plaque in "Memory of the First Indian Burying Ground, 1800 to 1850" was dedicated and a few remains were reburied in a mound nearby.

~This information was provided by local historian, Kit Lane.

Cemetery Fee Schedule

Standard Burial Rights

Resident or Taxpayer

1-2 spaces are $120.00 per space

3-6 spaces are $480.00 per space

more than 6 spaces are $1,500.00 per space

Non-Resident or Non-Taxpayer

$2,000 per space

Cremation Burial Rights

Resident or Taxpayer

1-2 spaces are $80.00 per space

3-6 spaces are $240.00 per space