New Orleans
Burial and Cemeteries
Above ground Graveyards
Cities of the Dead
Lafayette
Cemetery New Orleans
Unquestionably one of the most interesting and written-about
cemeteries in the country, Lafayette Cemetery in the Big Easy stands as one of
the most haunted. Ghosts have been seen flitting in and around the
above-ground graves. (for more information on the customs of burial in
New Orleans click
here
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A curiosity indeed, in today's world, but this
is the remnant of a necessary solution to the problem of burying wooden
caskets, filled with air, in an area where one found water less than two feet
from the surface. In the early days of New Orleans, it was often necessary to
bore holes in the caskets, and load them with rocks and sand bags to get them
to stay put. Even so, a good New Orleans rain would cause some of them to
pop right out of the ground. click
here
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New Orleans was established by the French in
1718. At that time burials were made on the banks of the Mississippi. Around
1731 the St. Peter street graveyard was founded. There were also interments
made in St. Louis church and a small area outside of the church. The church
was running out of space and eventually the St. Peter street cemetery was
closed from lack of space and fear of pestilence. It was eventually divided
into building lots. The first aboveground burials were made in St. Louis #1
cemetery in 1789. Above ground burials can be attributed to two different
origins. New Orleans is mostly below sea-level and flooding could cause a
wooden coffin to reappear in a most disturbing manner. There are stories of
river flooding causing the dead to float down into the city! Secondly, French
and Spanish influence dictated above ground burial once the city was
established. click
here
Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana Art Print
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