The Congregation Etz Chayim manages the cemetery [2023/10].

1908 to 1912 was a period of great expansion in Manitoba. Land values doubled, as real estate agents and speculators bought property hoping to make a quick return.

In 1912 River Lots 38 to 44 were owned by Drewery and Bannerman Real Estate Co. The 1913 municipal records list a certain R J Bateman of London, England as owner, we believe he sold to a Mr Kennedy. The Kennedys lived in St. Andrew's Municipality, Lot 1, which is on the north side of Parks Creek, and were quite prosperous.

It was Mr. Kennedy who began the business of Riverside Cemetery. A mausoleum was built by him.

At that time cemeteries were exempt from municipal taxation. This irked the local council, who took the matter to court, and won — partly! The court ruled that a minimum of twenty acres could be owned by a church and would qualify for exemption from municipal taxation.

Riverside Cemetery owners then had the land subdivided and over the years sold it to various religious groups. If part of their land was used for agricultural purposes it could then be taxed.

(Source: The Changing Scene - A History of West St. Paul, p 85 [circa 1989; Adapted])

The first burial occurred in 1921. (i.e., Sarah Benstein)

(Source: Manitoba Historical Society [Adapted])

Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD09-13-12-03-E1

In the Rural Municipality of West St Paul

While not focused on the Jewish community from this area and beyond, a part of the area's story and those of its inhabitants from the early days of European settlement through roughly 1989 is told in the volume "The Changing Scene - A History of West St. Paul". A free digital version of this and many other Manitoba local history books can be found online in the University of Manitoba Digital Collections. There is also a list of such books organized by district and town name on the Manitoba Historical Society's website on their page entitled "Finding Aid: Manitoba Local History Books".

A list of burials in this cemetery is available from the Manitoba Genealogical Society (reference #1181), transcribed by a member or members in 1996. Also available to MGS members is a searchable online database named the "MGS Manitoba Name Index" (or MANI). Some additional information may be contained in the 1996 MGS publication "Carved in Stone: Manitoba Cemeteries and Burial Sites" (revised edition, Special Projects Publication, 106 pages).

Additionally, the non-profit Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada centralizes, curates and makes available extensive records from various groups related to the communities established by the families of their faith who contributed to the story of Western Canada.