One of Hopkinsville’s most striking historic landmarks, the small neo-Gothic chapel in Riverside Cemetery, was built in 1916 with the support of a city commissioner named William Rutherford Wicks Sr. The city spent approximately $3,100 to build the chapel.
Then, in 1959, Wicks’ widow, local businesswoman Lena Wicks, was motivated to raise public awareness and money to save Riverside Chapel. The city was preparing to raze the chapel because it was deteriorating after several years of neglect.
Originally built to accommodate funerals – especially for families who lived out in the county – the chapel saw less use as more local funeral homes were established after 1925.
Lena Wicks, who co-owned and operated Wickersons, a dress shop on South Main Street, led the effort to save the chapel and eventually earned the title of “The Mother of Local Preservation” from Christian County Historian William T. Turner for her dedication to the project.
Riverside Chapel is occasionally still used for services when inclement weather prevents a graveside service. It also accommodates public events such as the Supper in the Cemetery organized by the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County. The museum program features local volunteers who portray interesting people in Hopkinsville history.
Both William and Lena Wicks are buried at Riverside. He was born in 1877 and died in 1950. She was born in 1895 and died in 1985.
The first burial at Riverside, when it was a private graveyard, was of Sarah Pitzer Phaup in 1837. Two decades later, it became the city’s public cemetery. In 1893, the cemetery was named Hopewell. In 1907, it was named Riverside.
This story was updated to correct the spelling of the last name of William and Lena Wicks.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
