St. Louis Cemetery Number One
st. louis one main|history|families|personalities|politicians|warriors|voodoo
Family tombs with the Italian Society tomb in the background, St. Louis No. 1
The first cemetery in New Orleans was built in 1721. That cemetery served the city for decades, but by the 1780s, the city had outgrown it. The combination of yellow fever and other tropical diseases, along with the devastating fire of 1788 filled the cemetery to capacity. By the 1780s, control of the city had passed from the French to the Spanish, and the Spanish colonial government ordered the cemetery closed to new burials. They ordered that construction begin on a new cemetery, outside the bounds of the city. A year later, in 1789, that new cemetery was dedicated as the St. Louis Cemetery.
