Masonic Cemetery: The Freemasons’ Resting Place
Masonic Cemetery is one of the more enigmatic burial grounds in New Orleans. Established in 1868 by the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, Free and Accepted Masons, it was built to serve the city’s Freemason community—though burials were never restricted exclusively to lodge members. The cemetery carries the aura of its fraternal origins, with Masonic symbols carved into headstones and monuments throughout the grounds, creating an atmosphere that feels equal parts burial ground and lodge hall.
History
Freemasonry has deep roots in New Orleans. The fraternal order arrived with the French colonists and flourished in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the colonial and antebellum city. By the mid-nineteenth century, New Orleans had dozens of Masonic lodges, drawing members from every level of society—merchants, lawyers, politicians, and craftsmen. The establishment of a dedicated Masonic cemetery in 1868 reflected the order’s prominence in the city and its commitment to providing for its members in death as well as in life. The post-Civil War timing is notable—the lodges, like the rest of New Orleans, were rebuilding after the devastation of the war and Reconstruction.
Symbolism in Stone
What sets Masonic Cemetery apart from other New Orleans burial grounds is the profusion of fraternal symbolism carved into its monuments. The square and compass, the all-seeing eye, the acacia sprig, the broken column, the hourglass, and the skull and crossbones—all familiar Masonic symbols with specific meanings related to mortality, virtue, and the afterlife—appear throughout the cemetery. For students of Freemasonry, the cemetery is a textbook of symbolic language rendered in stone. For everyone else, the symbols add a layer of mystery to an already atmospheric place.
The Grounds
Masonic Cemetery features the typical New Orleans mix of above-ground family tombs, wall vaults, and society tombs, though the scale is more modest than the grand cemeteries along Canal Boulevard. The grounds are well-shaded and relatively well-maintained, with a quiet atmosphere that reflects the order and discipline the Masons prized. The cemetery sits among the cluster of historic burial grounds in the Mid-City area, within easy reach of Greenwood, Cypress Grove, and the other cemeteries that line Metairie Ridge.
Open to All
Despite its fraternal origins, Masonic Cemetery has always been open to non-Masons as well, and burials from a wide range of backgrounds can be found within its walls. This openness reflects a broader truth about fraternal organizations in New Orleans—while they maintained their rituals, hierarchies, and secrets, they were also deeply embedded in the wider community, providing social services, charitable support, and community bonds that extended well beyond the lodge room. Masonic Cemetery is a monument to that tradition—a place where the brothers rest, but where the doors remain open to all who seek a dignified final home.
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