Riverside City History
Early Days

The early days of Riverside heralded a hard way of life. Basic services, such as electricity, did not exist. Line Creek, a dominant feature of the area in many ways, was useful for summer food storage. "Ice houses" were a major method for preserving food well into the 20th century. In winter in the Riverside area, Line Creek supplied most of the ice. To harvest ice, wagons had to have an easy access to the creek. Settlers chose easy access cutting sites along the creek and prepared them by widening or deepening the creek bed. The ice was measured and tested, then cut into blocks. They were removed and loaded with large ice grips and driven to the waiting icehouse. Many icehouses were built underground with walls and floors of rock for maximum protection. Nails were rarely used on icehouses. Instead, tight fitting boards were held together with wooden pegs. Sometimes a building was built on top for other uses or storage of sawdust. Sawdust was packed between the ice blocks then the whole thing covered for summer. One ice-cutting location for many years was approximately 90 yards north of the Vivion Road Bridge where the creek makes a sharp bend.

One of the first recorded "Great Floods" by the Missouri River inundated much of the area in 1844. One response was the formation of St. Matthew's Church. Housed in a log building on Brenner Ridge, the congregation was first named the German Evangelical Church. The area's first school classes were held in the building before permanent facilities were built.

NEXT»