St. Louis Cemetery No. 1: The Most Famous Cemetery in America

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1: The Most Famous Cemetery in America

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is the oldest existing cemetery in New Orleans, and arguably the most famous burial ground in the United States. Established in 1789 after the city’s original St. Peter Street Cemetery reached capacity, this walled acre of whitewashed tombs sits on the edge of the French Quarter and Tremé, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year who come to see the above-ground crypts, the elaborate funerary architecture, and the reputed tomb of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.

History

When a devastating fire swept through New Orleans in 1788, destroying much of the French Quarter, the overwhelmed St. Peter Street Cemetery could no longer handle the dead. The city established St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 on what was then the outskirts of town, along Basin Street. The first above-ground tombs appeared around 1804, and the practice of building crypts above the soggy ground became the defining characteristic of New Orleans burial. The high water table made traditional in-ground burial impractical—coffins had a tendency to float back to the surface during heavy rains, a grim reality that horrified early residents and visitors alike.

Architecture of the Dead

The cemetery is a maze of tombs in various states of grandeur and decay. Society tombs—large, multi-vault structures built by benevolent associations and fraternal organizations—tower over family crypts and individual wall vaults called “ovens.” The architectural styles range from Greek Revival to Gothic to the elaborate Egyptian Revival designs of architect J.N.B. de Pouilly, who designed some of the most stunning tombs in the 1840s and 1850s. Florville Foy, a free man of color and master builder, also designed and constructed many of the tombs—a remarkable fact given the racial politics of antebellum New Orleans.

Famous Residents

Marie Laveau, the legendary Voodoo Queen who dominated the spiritual life of nineteenth-century New Orleans, is believed to be buried here, though the exact location of her remains is debated. Her reputed tomb is the most visited grave in the cemetery, often marked with Xs, flowers, and offerings left by believers and tourists. Etienne de Boré, the first mayor of New Orleans and the man who proved sugar could be granulated commercially in Louisiana, is interred here. Paul Morphy, the chess prodigy who was considered the greatest player in the world in the 1850s, rests in his family’s tomb. Homer Plessy, whose challenge to segregation led to the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision, was recently reinterred here with a new marker honoring his legacy. And Bernard de Marigny, the Creole millionaire who developed the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood, is buried within these walls.

Visiting Today

Due to vandalism and safety concerns, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is now accessible only through licensed tour groups or by family members visiting relatives’ tombs. The Archdiocese of New Orleans, which manages the cemetery, implemented these restrictions in 2015. The tours are worth taking—guides bring the history to life with stories of voodoo, yellow fever epidemics, and the elaborate social rituals of death in old New Orleans. Walking among these tombs is unlike any other cemetery experience in America. It is not somber. It is not quiet. It is New Orleans—loud with history, beautiful in its decay, and very much alive.