ONLY OPEN TO TOURS AUTHORIZED BY THE ARCHDIOCESE
Established in the late 1700’s, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is the
oldest existent cemetery in New Orleans and is still the site of several
burials a year. The cemetery is the final resting place of many
prominent New Orleans families, particularly the Creole population. Upon
initial development, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was divided into sections
for Catholics, non-Catholics, and “Negroes,” possibly referring to
slaves since
gens de couleur libres were buried according to their religion.
By the late eighteenth century, the cemetery for the city, St. Peter
Street, had begun to fill up, and the town development had reached the
site’s boundaries. Recognizing the need for the new burial place, the
Cabildo wanted the cemetery far away from the center of population, due
to fears that contagion and disease spread from the cemetery to infect
the populace. New Orleans’ location on swampy, below sea level terrain
made any high ground extremely valuable. Precious high ground would not
be designated for the dead when the living could benefit from it;
therefore, the Cabildo chose a swampy site on St. Louis Street. On
August 14, 1789, a new cemetery was created by Spanish Royal Decree. The
cemetery was placed 40 yards behind the Charity Hospital, which was
located on Rampart Street between Toulouse and St. Peter Streets.
In 1796, a canal was installed next to the cemetery for the purpose
of transporting goods as well as draining the swamp around the city. The
turning basin was located at the intersection of Basin and St. Louis
Streets. The location of the canal led to industrial development in the
area, including warehouses and depots, and eventually led to the
development of the Tremè neighborhood.
Initial burials appear to have taken place in a haphazard manner,
leading to the current maze of tombs and aisles. Current theories about
tomb and site evolution suggest that initial burials took place
below-ground or in low, quasi-above ground tombs that only held one
burial. As the needs of the site grew, existing burial plots were added
on to create additional burial vaults while retaining the original tomb
footprints; thus, the one tier semi-below ground burial space became
the fully realized above-ground tomb found throughout the cemeteries of
New Orleans.
Due to its location in a swamp, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was
constantly threatened by flooding. To combat the rising waters, sand and
shells were continuously added to the site, particularly along the
pathways. In 1816, the waters of Macarty Crevasse flooded the cemetery
to the extent that the site was closed, and burials took place across
the river.
By the early nineteenth century, New Orleans had grown, and the City
wished to extend Tremé Street, but the cemetery, particularly the
Protestant Section, was in the way. Furthermore, with the Louisiana
Purchase and impending Louisiana statehood, the city had experienced an
influx of Americans, the majority of whom were Protestant. To remedy
these issues, in 1822 the City proffered a site in the Faubourg St.
Marie to be used as a Protestant burial ground, later known as Girod
Street Cemetery.
Around the same time, the City created and the Church consecrated St.
Louis Cemetery No. 2, even further removed from the city center, in
1823. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 remained in operation, but the more
ornate tombs of the Creoles and the Benevolent Societies were being
constructed in St. Louis Cemetery No. 2.
Further city development resulted in the shrinking of St. Louis
Cemetery No. 1, resulting in a site that is significantly smaller than
its original size. For example, the pyramidal Varney monument, once
located at the center of the site, now marks the entrance. By the late
nineteenth century, the area surrounding the cemetery had become chiefly
residential, with few undeveloped lots left available. In 1898,
“Storyville” was created in the sixteen square blocks that included the
cemetery, and was bounded by Iberville, North Robertson, St. Louis and
Basin Streets. The “red light district” lasted until 1917, when the Navy
ordered it closed.
Significant changes started taking place to the area surrounding St.
Louis Cemetery No. 1 in the mid-twentieth century. Construction began on
the Municipal Auditorium in 1930, and the canal was filled in by 1938.
What was left of Storyville was demolished to make way for the Iberville
Housing Project in the 1940s. Neighborhood decline continued with the
construction on Interstate 10. The city made several attempts to
rehabilitate the area, including the creation of Louis Armstrong Park in
1976. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 acquired a reputation as an extremely
dangerous site, resulting in tomb owners, families, and locals staying
away from the site. As a result, the site and tombs were neglected and
became overgrown.
Scenes for the movies Cincinnati Kid (1965) and Easy Rider (1969)
were filmed in the St. Louis Cemeteries. Following the release of Easy
Rider, the Archdiocese enacted a policy of disallowing any filming in
its cemeteries, except in the case of preapproved documentaries and
educational films.
Gradually, given its proximity to the French Quarter as well as
increased intervention on the behalf of the Archdiocese, St. Louis
Cemetery No. 1 became a top tourist attraction for the city. As the
number of people on site began to improve, families and locals gradually
began to come back to the site and take a renewed interest in the care
of their historic family tombs. It is now an actively visited site, and
is considered safe for tourists.
--Historical research by Save Our Cemeteries.
Please click link to donate to them
http://www.saveourcemeteries.org/
