Riverdale is a city in the Clayton County limits in Georgia. The population increased from 12,478 to 15,134 between the 2000 and 2010 censuses. Just south of Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Riverdale is a suburb that helps make up the Atlanta metropolitan area. The land now called Riverdale was settled before the Civil War. After the railroad reached the area in 1886 the city of Riverdale was founded. In 1908, Riverdale was incorporated as a city, named in honor of Mr. W.S. Rivers, the original owner of the land.