In-ground burials in New Orleans
Many families bury their loved ones in-ground. It’s more than just “the water table.”
Branighan family coping in St. Patrick Cemetery Number One (Edward Branley photo)
For the most part, we bury our dead above ground in New Orleans. The conventional wisdom on this practice is, “the water table is too high.” As is the case with many “conventional” wisdoms, yes-and-no. Yes, we have a high water table. No, it doesn’t mean you can’t do in-ground burials here. You just have to make sure the coffin doesn’t pop up on a heavy-rain/flood day.
High ground
There’s a trend with cemeteries in New Orleans. They’re built on (relatively) high ground. The original St. Peter Cemetery, at the back of the Vieux Carré, is higher than the neighborhoods along the Old Portage. The Metairie Ridge, at the foot of Canal Street, also stands higher than the surrounding neighborhood. Additionally, the Metairie Ridge was well out of town when the archdiocese and Firemen’s Benevolent began cemetery construction there. That extra distance allayed fears of the spread of yellow fever.
The Gentilly Ridge also appealed to congregations looking for cemetery locations. The archdiocese expanded to the end of Esplanade Avenue, building St. Louis Number Three at Bayou St. John. Jewish congregations chose Gentilly Road, along the route of the Pontchartrain Railroad. This later became Elysian Fields Avenue.
Tradition and expense
For Jewish New Orleanians, the desire for in-ground burials was a religious one. For Christians, cost was the driving factor. St. Patrick’s church parish, located in the American Sector, Faubourg Ste. Marie, desired a burial ground separate from the Creole cemeteries. They opened St. Patrick Cemetery Number One on Canal Street in 1841. There were a large number of in-ground burials in St. Patrick Number One. The Irish community was, at the time, not well-off. They were immigrants who worked the riverfront, as well as jobs owners of the enslaved would not allow their property to do. It would be a generation or two before the Irish developed the means to build above-ground tombs in numbers. Additionally, New Orleanians in the 1840s-1850s feared disease epidemics. Burying yellow fever victims in the ground put folks at ease.
Higher Ground
Even though cemeteries were built on the ridges, extra measures were taken to maintain safety and dignity. In-ground burials were done using “copings.” Rather than just digging a hole and lowing the coffin, a concrete rectangle was built around the grave. This “coping” raised the ground for the grave by a foot or more. This ensured that excessive flooding wouldn’t push coffins up.
St. Patrick’s parish purchased a parcel of land that started at Banks Street and extended across Canal Street and City Park Avenue, into Lakeview, next to Canal Boulevard. So, the section between Canal and City Park became St. Patrick’s Number Two, and the third section, Number Three. As concerns over disease ebbed and the Irish acquired more financial means, more classic, above-ground tombs appeared in these extensions.
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