We bury our dead above ground in New Orleans. The traditional reason offered for this is that, were we to perform burials directly into the ground, the bodies would simply pop up during the next hard rain, the water table being so high that they wouldn't stay down.
While there's some truth to this story, the main reason we bury our dead above ground is simple: It's the way the French did it, and New Orleans was the capital city of a French colony. Once the city had been built up beyond basic military necessity, cemeteries were constructed in the same manner as their Continental counterparts.
Come with us on a tour of the various cemeteries in the city. Before we start haunting them, however, citiesofthedead.net invites you to review some basic safety tips for touring cemeteries, along with a brief historical overview.
What's New
May 26, 2008
Feature Photo - Andrew Jackson Higgins
Coping of Andrew Jackson Higgins, founder of Higgins Industries and inventor of the Higgins Boat, in Metairie Cemetery.
"Andrew Higgins ... is the man who won the war for us. ... If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs, we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different."
--Dwight D. Eisenhower, General of the Army, President of the United States of America
Almost more importantly to me personally, Professor Ambrose agreed 100% with Ike. Amphibious landings were a key component to the Allied strategy in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, and Andrew Higgins was the man who made that happen with his design of an easy to build landing craft:
The development of the Higgins Boat came from Higgins' experience building tugboats for use on the Mississippi River and crew boats that serviced the oil industry in South Louisiana. Built of plywood, the boats were easily constructed, and used most notably in the Normandy landings on D-Day.
A fully-restored Higgins Boat is on display at the National World War II Museum.
Mr. Higgins' coping is simple and understated by New Orleans standards. Perhaps this is a reflection of his Nebraska upbringing that he preferred an in-ground burial. The coping's headstone is very modest:
As we honor our active-duty troops and veterans this Memorial Day, let's not forget the hard-working men and women who dedicated their lives to making the tools of victory.
Posted by YatPundit at 9:16 AM
April 21, 2008
Feature Photo - Guste Family Tomb in Metairie Cemetery
Guste family tomb in the "new" section of Metairie Cemetery. The patriarch, William J. Guste, Sr., married the former Marie Louise Alciatore, thereby marrying into the family of Antoine Alciatore, the founder and first proprieter of Restaurant Antoine. The Gustes now own and operate the city's oldest restaurant, and do it very well.
William J. Guste, Jr., is a former Attorney General of Louisiana (and still very much alive).
William J. Guste, Sr., was a noted attorney and high-ranking member of the Knights of Columbus, as well as being a Knight of St. Gregory, a Papal order of chivalry.
The tomb is located in the "new" side of Metairie Cemetery, to the west of the original "racetrack" section. The architecture of the tomb is typical of many in the cemetery, granite facings covering brick. The tomb is a 4-vault variety (two on either side), making it larger than the more typical "doubles" found around town.
It's interesting that the tomb of the Brennan family is just down the row from the Gustes.
Posted by Edward Branley at 7:32 PM
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April 7, 2008
Feature Photo - Padre Pio at St. Louis Number Three
Statue of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, better known as Padre Pio, located in St. Louis Cemetery Number Three on Esplanade Avenue at Bayou St. John. Padre Pio, who was reputed to be in possession of the Stigmata (the wounds of Christ Crucified), lived from 1885 to 1968, and was canonized by John Paul II in 2002.
Padre Pio was a Capuchin friar. The Capuchins had a big presence in New Orleans. Combine that with the large Italian community here, and it's easy to understand how his cult grew strong here. New Orleanians are big believers in the mystical side of Catholicism. The Lourdes, Fatima, and Guadalupe apparitions of the Virgin Mary are all honored here. New Orleans is still one of the hotspots for the Medugorje cult. There are dozens of shrines honoring saints in the metro area, including major shrines dedicated to St. Jude (at Our Lady of Guadalupe on N. Rampart) and St. Ann (at the church in Metairie bearing her name).
Being the extremely Catholic town New Orleans is, it's no surprise to see devotional statues such as this in a Catholic cemetery. This statue of Padre Pio is relatively new, erected in the spring of 2005.
The inscription on the bottom of the statue reads:
"This humble Capuchin friar surprised the world with his life totally dedicated to prayer and to listening to his brothers and sisters. His body, marked by the Stigmata, demonstrated the intimate connection between death and resurrection."
Beyond the basic fact that a statue of Padre Pio in one of New Orleans' oldest cemeteries makes perfect sense, I also choose to feature this photo today because St. Louis Number Three is where
Dr. Ashley Morris, a well-loved member of the New Orleans blogging community who passed away last week, will be buried this Friday. Dr. Morris' life was cut tragically short, and he leaves behind a wife and three small children. The family is struggling with the burden of funeral expenses and other financial obligations. Please consider going to the "Remember Ashley Morris"
website and tossing a buck or two or ten their way.
Posted by YatPundit at 5:47 PM
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March 31, 2008
Copeland's Funeral
Image courtesy of Dangerblond, who
crashed the funeral.
Posted by Edward Branley at 5:51 PM
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Feature Photo - Besthoff Tomb in Metairie Cemetery
The "original" or "old" section of Metairie Cemetery has two parts. The first is the area that fronted Pontchartrain Blvd. (and the New Basin Canal, before the canal became an expressway), and the "race track," which still follows the pattern of the horse race track that occupied the property prior to the construction of the cemetery. The high-value locations in the cemetery were the plots visible from the street (and canal), and the "infield" of the racetrack. The inside street along the infield became known as "Millionaire's Row," because of the elaborate tombs built around the Army of Northern Virginia tumulus that occupies the western end of the infield itself. Of course, these tombs and memorials were all built between 1880 and 1900, so a person or family with the means to buy a modern-day "millionaire's" tomb couldn't fit in with the original ones. When the cemetery opened up the current main gate in the 1950s, they priced the plots near the gate and on that street according to its status as main entrance.
Al Copeland constructed the first tomb in this section a few years back for his family (and, as of today, himself). Others, such as Ruth Fertel (of Ruth's Chris Steak House fame), and Anne Rice (for her late husband, Stan), bought plots down the street a bit from Copeland, where they constructed lovely tombs worthy of the original Millionaire's Row. Just across from the Rice tomb is this one, for the Besthoff family.
The Besthoffs were the "B" in K&B Drugstores. Sidney Besthoff and his partner, Gustave Katz, opened their first store on Canal Street in 1905. The Katz family sold their interest to the Besthoffs in 1954, and the Besthoffs in turn sold the chain to RiteAid in 1997.
The current patriarch of the Besthoff clan, Sidney Besthoff, III, is well-known as a patron of the arts and a lover of sculpture. The Besthoffs financed the Sidney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, in City Park, behind the New Orleans Museum of Art.
The elegant lines and classic design of the Besthoff tomb reflect the good classy reputation of Mr. Besthoff and his family. Each of the four columns is topped with a replica of "King Solomon's Crown." If you take the six-sided star you get from two interlocking triangles (the Star of David) and bend the corners upward, you get this style of pointed crown. There are no names engraved on the tomb as of this writing, so it's unclear if that means it is unused or if the family has chosen to not inscribe details.
Posted by Edward Branley at 12:23 PM
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March 24, 2008
Feature Photo - Copeland Family Tomb, Metairie Cemetery
(clicky the image for a larger version)
Copeland family tomb, located at the "modern" entrance to Metairie Cemetery.
Al Copeland, of Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken, passed yesterday. Copeland was from Da Channel and later Arabi. His original chicken shop, "Chicken on the Run" opened in Arabi in 1971. That became Popeyes, and by 1977, he was franchising the concept.
Copeland also opened restaurants as well as fast-food chicken outlets, first Copeland's, which has expanded across the nation, then Straya, a short-lived "California-Creole" concept that had locations Uptown and in Metairie. The Straya locations were converted into "Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro" restaurants. In 1997, a hilarious public dust-up occurred between Copeland and author (and then-New Orleanian) Anne Rice. Rice publicly attacked Copeland's design and decor tastes, harshly criticizing the decor of the Straya's on St. Charles Avenue. Copeland sued Rice for defamation, but the suit was tossed out of court. Interestingly enough, Rice's late husband, Stan, is buried two blocks down from the Copeland tomb in Metairie.
The Copeland tomb is first on the left as you enter the main entrance of the cemetery. Prior to the filling-in of the New Basin Canal and the construction of the Pontchartrain Expressway (I-10), the entrance was located at the corner of Pontchartrain Blvd. and Metairie Road. The construction of an overpass at that intersection made it impractical for vehicular traffic to enter at that corner, so a new entrance was constructed two blocks up on Pontchartrain. The entrance is located just past the "racetrack" portion of the Cemetery.
Al Copeland was a true larger-than-life New Orleanian, and will be missed by many.
Posted by YatPundit at 12:40 PM
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March 17, 2008
Feature Photo: New Basin Canal Monument
The New Basin Canal Monument, located in the neutral ground between West End Ave. and Pontchartrain Blvd. in Lakeview, between Fillmore Ave. and Robt. E. Lee Blvd. This Celtic cross commemorates the work and sacrifices of the Irish laborers who built the canal. Here's the inscription:
The New Basin Canal was constructed in the 1830s to provide an additional water access to the city from the north. Prior to this time, boats on Lake Pontchartrain could approach the city via Bayou St. John and the Carondelet Canal, which terminated in a turning basin located, appropriately enough, on Basin Street in Faubourg Treme. The new canal terminated with a turning basin located near Rampart St. and Howard Ave., on the Uptown side of Canal St.
While this monument isn't in a cemetery, it is a memorial to the many men who gave their lives in the construction of the canal. In the 1830s, the path between Faubourg Ste. Marie and West End was nothing but mosquito-infested swamp. Hundreds of the laborers who worked on the Canal contracted yellow fever and died. The Irish were employed to build the canal because they were cheap labor. Slaves were expensive, and slave owners were not going to risk their investments on such a project. Better to let the Irish do it.
Many of those Irishmen are buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery at the head of Canal Street, two blocks away from the Canal they built.
Legislation was passed authorizing the closure of the New Basin Canal was passed in 1938, but World War II delayed the actual work, and the canal was filled in after the war. The Pontchartrain Expressway was constructed over the filled-in canal, running from Veterans Blvd. and West End Blvd. into town, eventually linking with the Crescent City Connection bridge when it was constructed in the late 1950s.
Posted by YatPundit at 8:17 AM
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