Cemeteries of New Orleans

Every city large or small everywhere has at least one cemetery. On our trip across the country we tried to stay off freeways as much as possible and because of that we saw cemeteries in each state. Especially in the south-eastern part of the country we found them next door to the local churches. It was one thing that for me, being from the far west, I had never seen before. But I had heard in advance of the special cemeteries on New Orleans.

We didn’t see all of the cemeteries listed below but I believe this to be a fairly complete listing.
St. Louis #1 is the oldest surviving cemetery in New Orleans. Begun in 1789, the year after the city suffered an epidemic of yellow fever, a flood, and a fire that destroyed 80% of the city. The purported tomb of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau can be found there.
St. Louis #2 established in 1823.
Lafayette #1 established in 1833 was the first Garden District cemetery, and has been used the most for films.
Cypress Grove established in 1840
Gates of Prayer established in 1846
Greenwood begun in 1852.
St. Louis #3 established in 1854.
St. Roch founded 1867.
Metairie founded in 1872
Hebrew Rest established in 1872
Mt Olivet established 1920.
Holt cemetery, new and maybe the only below ground

We were able to locate and drive through two of the amazing beautiful cemeteries and took several pictures of the tombs and above ground burial sites. Due to the very high water table around the New Orleans area making above ground burials has long been done here. And many are more like super memorials than just grave sites.

I will not go into the hauntings, ghosts, or voodoo, which are all highly spoken of in New Orleans especially by the tour companies. They love to tell you some of the creepiest stories while showing you around. You can take tours of several of the cemeteries that are an hour to two hours in length and cost as little as $10. But if all you wish to do is see the wonderfully built detailed tombs take your car and drive through.