Above Ground Tombs

Above ground tombs in New Orleans cemeteries are a characteristic of the city that few other American cities have. According to this article, the original cemetery in New Orleans was the St. Peter Street Cemetery located in an area that is now part of the French Quarter. Originally, graves were dug in the ground however, it was fairly common due to the low ground level, for water to fill the grave soon after it was shoveled.

Picture of flooded cemetery courtesy of this site.

Once the St. Peter St. graveyard was at full capacity, the Spanish governor of New Orleans, Esteban Miro, established St. Louis Cemetery No.1 which would allow resident to be buried in the above ground, wall vault system that was popular in Spain at the time. Fumes coming from the still common ground burials were reported to have caused several epidemics during the 1830's and thus the city passed a law banning all burials in the established cemeteries unless they were in above ground vaults or tombs. This is the reason why today, all Catholic cemeteries in the city are filled with tombs and vaults.