Does New Orleans Actually Bury its Dead?

Make a Virtual Visit to the Site of a Mass Grave in New Orleans by Watching the Video Below

There are thousands of bodies buried throughout New Orleans despite what tour guides tell you. Examples of below-ground cemeteries are located at Holt Cemetery, Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery including four possible sites in the French Quarter (one definitely at St. Peter and another at Hospital Street (now known as Governor Nicholls). Our style of crypt making also festoon the landscape of Latin and Latin American countries such as France, Spain and Mexico at far above sea level. At Charity Hospital Cemetery across from Sacred Grinds Cafe not only hosts a touching memorial to the victims of Hurricane Katrina but it’s also home to a mass grave known to few.

Throughout the nineteenth century our city was inaundated with viral epidemics nearly every year. The overwhelming number of corpses needed a place for internment so sites like the one in this video were selected because they were far outside of the city boundary where the supposed infectious vapors from the corpses could not spread among the living. To find the location of the mass grave, walk past the Hurricane Katrina memorial to find a slightly obscured path between cypress trees and you’ll find a locked metal gate barring outsiders from entering the burial site.

Southern Louisiana is my greatest source of inspiration for photo projects and stories that I could spend lifetimes creating. I enjoy sharing info with you that I discover while researching concepts.