The Quiet Cemetery at the End of the Canal
St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 doesn't get the fame of its older siblings. Cemetery No. 1, right at the edge of the French Quarter, draws the crowds — tour groups shuffling past the supposed tomb of Marie Laveau, cameras clicking between the whitewashed vaults. Cemetery No. 2, a few blocks away on Claiborne Avenue, has its own dark grandeur. But No. 3, tucked along Esplanade Avenue near Bayou St. John, is the one that feels like a secret. It's the cemetery where New Orleans goes to be still.
Established in 1854, St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 is one of three Roman Catholic cemeteries in the city named after the patron saint of the Archdiocese. Like its predecessors, it features the above-ground vaults that have earned New Orleans cemeteries the nickname "Cities of the Dead" — a practical response to a water table that sits just inches below the surface and makes underground burial an exercise in futility.
The Architecture of Eternity
The tombs in St. Louis No. 3 span more than a century of funerary architecture, from simple plastered brick vaults to elaborate marble monuments topped with crosses, urns, and weeping angels. Society tombs — large communal vaults built by benevolent organizations for their members — rise above the individual graves like apartment buildings for the dead. Iron fences, many of them original, surround family plots with the same ornamental ironwork you see on the balconies of the French Quarter.
Among the notable permanent residents: ragtime composer Paul Sarebresole, whose syncopated melodies helped define the sound of early 20th-century New Orleans; photographer E.J. Bellocq, whose haunting portraits of Storyville women became one of the most important visual records of the city's red-light district; and painter Ralston Crawford, whose abstract works captured the industrial landscapes of the American South.
A Different Kind of Visit
What sets St. Louis No. 3 apart from its more famous counterparts is the atmosphere. The cemetery is large enough to absorb visitors without feeling crowded, and its location along the oak-lined stretch of Esplanade Avenue gives it a residential quality that the other two lack. You can walk the paths between the tombs and hear nothing but birdsong and the occasional rustle of palm fronds. It's a meditative experience, the kind of place that reminds you that New Orleans' relationship with death has always been more intimate — and more accepting — than most American cities.
The Esplanade Avenue entrance is particularly beautiful, framed by oaks and backed by rows of white tombs that glow in the afternoon light. It's a view that painters have tried to capture for 150 years and that photographs never quite do justice. You have to stand there and feel the weight of it — all those lives, all those stories, all that marble holding its ground against the slow dissolution of time and weather and the encroaching roots of the live oaks.
Frequently Asked Questions About St. Louis Cemetery III
Why are the graves above ground?
New Orleans sits below sea level with an extremely high water table. Below-ground burial would result in caskets floating to the surface during heavy rains or flooding. Above-ground vaults solved this problem and became the city's distinctive funerary tradition.
Who is buried in St. Louis Cemetery III?
Notable burials include ragtime composer Paul Sarebresole, photographer E.J. Bellocq (known for his Storyville portraits), and painter Ralston Crawford. Thousands of New Orleans families have tombs here dating back to the mid-1800s.
Can you visit St. Louis Cemetery III on your own?
Unlike Cemetery No. 1, which requires a licensed tour guide for entry, Cemetery No. 3 is generally accessible to visitors during daylight hours. It's a more peaceful and less crowded alternative to the more famous cemeteries.
When was St. Louis Cemetery III established?
The cemetery was established in 1854 along Esplanade Avenue near Bayou St. John. It is the newest of the three St. Louis cemeteries in New Orleans.
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