New Orleans Unique Cemetery History Tour

We'll go to SIX CEMETERIES in New Orleans. Don't worry - they are all next to one another, so this is a very leisurely walk. This is perhaps the only tour in New Orleans that covers such a variety of cemeteries and religions: we'll visit two Catholic cemeteries; a Jewish cemetery; a Protestant cemetery; a cemetery for the Katrina Hurricane victims; and cemetery for yellow fever patients. We will visit celebrity graves in these cemeteries. The tour is FULLY NARATED, and guests get to hear the history of the different communities, and how and why New Orleans buries its loved ones so differently than the rest of the USA.

Meeting Point

Morning Call Coffee Stand

5101 Canal Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70124, USA

Right in front of Morning Call Coffee Stand, on Canal Blvd, in New Orleans. Bathroom access is free. The beignets and the New Orleans traditional cafe-au-lait coffee are phenomenal at this location.

What's included:

• The fascinating burial procedures of New Orleans, and a visit to six unique cemeteries
• tour guide is included

What to expect:

Duration: 2 hours

Cypress Grove and Greenwood Cemeteries

, , New Orleans, Louisiana

There are 3 cemeteries in this sub-heading. Our first cemetery on the tour is GREENWOOD CEMETERY - a stunningly beautiful cemetery with imposing graves and statues. We will visit several celebrity graves here. Guests will hear fascinating stories of how and why burial procedures in New Orleans are different than anywhere else in the United States. After Greenwood, we will visit CYPRESS GROVE CEMETERY, a Protestant graveyard, where we will visit more celebrity graves, and the two largest and most monumental graves in all of New Orleans. Guests will here the fascinating (and funny) story of the feud between the two families that built these two graves. We will also visit the GATES OF JUHAD CEMETERY - a Jewish cemetery, where guests will hear how Jewish burial practices in New Orleans differ than Catholic and Protestant burial practices.

1 hour

Hurricane Katrina Memorial

5056 Canal St, New Orleans, 70119-5835, Louisiana

This is not only a beautiful hurricane victims' memorial, but also serves at a cemetery for 80 locals who tragically lost their lives in the 2005 hurricane. Guests will hear the touching story of their lives, and also fascinating detective story of how their bodies were "lost" by the local authorities, only to be "re-discovered" a few years later in an obscure local massive freezer, after which their received a beautiful burial, with all the respect and dignity that they deserved.

20 minutes

St. Patrick Cemetery

City Park Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana

This sub-category is actually THREE different cemeteries. In SAINT PATRICK #1 CEMETERY, guests will see the oldest Irish Catholic Cemetery in the city - a cemetery that was started by immigrants who escaped the Irish Potato Famine. It was the first generation of Irish New Orleanians, and because they were impoverished, they built modest graves in a haphazard manner. Across the street, we'll visit ST. PATRICK #2 CEMETERY, built a generation later, and guests will be see what new money in the Irish-American community meant in terms of a cemetery (imposing, monumental, and very ornate graves). Guests will also hear the story of the struggles of the Irish community in the early days of our city. Next door, we'll also visit CHARITY HOSPITAL CEMETERY - which is a mass burial ground strictly used in the past for victims of YELLOW FEVER. Guests we'll hear the sinister and macabre history of how and why yellow fever was so prevalent in New Orleans.

40 minutes