New Orleans Cemetery Tours
Want a more personalized experience? Book a private tour directly at redsashtours@gmail.com or call or text me at 504-475-1190.
Established in 1854, St. Louis Cemetery #3 (3421 Esplanade Ave) is the “younger sister” to St. Louis #1 and #2 but twice their combined size. It is one of the most active cemeteries in the city, averaging a burial a day. You will learn how a little act of rebellion led to the cemetery’s founding.
The main aisles are named for saints, while the cross aisles are named for various clerics of the church. On this tour you will learn about a variety of tombs — family tombs, wall vaults, columbariums, public mausoleums, society tombs — and see a variety of styles including classic Greek and Roman, Gothic, Egyptian, Baroque, and Byzantine.
You will visit the graves and hear stories about some of New Orleans' most notable (and notorious) citizens including leading chefs and architects, civil right leaders of the Reconstruction Era, one of the most unusual society tombs, the first businesswoman to have a public statute erected in her honor, the hunchbacked photographer who secretly photographed prostitutes, and the story behind the quirky castle.
And, oh yes, angels – lots of angels.
This walking tour takes approximately an hour and a half and covers roughly a half mile.
Metairie Cemetery was established in 1872 on the former site of Metairie Race Course by the principal owner of the Louisiana State Lottery, who after being denied membership in the jockey club vowed that one day the racetrack would become a cemetery. When the track went bankrupt, he bought it and did just that. With its colorful beginnings and rich history, Metairie Cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is frequently rated by many organizations as one of the must-see cemeteries in the world. Metairie Cemetery is flush with million-dollar tombs and characters from the elite to the underworld, being home to multiple mayors, governors, Kings of Carnival, mob bosses, law enforcement, and ground-breaking journalists. The cemetery is a feast for the eyes and mind (as well as the camera)!
On “Millionaire’s Row” you will see the extravagant tombs and learn the history of Popeyes’ founder Al Copeland, Ruth’s Chris Steak House founder Ruth Fertel, grocery magnate John Schwegmann, and vampire-novelist Anne Rice.
On “Millionaire’s Circle” you will see and learn about the pyramid guarded by a serious-looking sphinx and a woman wearing an all-seeing eye headdress; the tallest tomb in the cemetery; a medieval revival-style tomb with “jewel” stained-glass windows that illuminate the vaulted chamber, with marble female mourners positioned outside; and the Islamic-inspired tomb made of limestone that a Confederate general built for his daughter.
While walking beneath the shade of almost a thousand trees, you will discover the history of the gunned-down gambler who was famous for never smiling, the powerful Storyville madam who was ousted from her pink granite tomb shortly after her death, the 15-ton Celtic cross, the weeping angel who is bathed in blue, the obelisk cenotaph that was erected as result of a celebrated court case, the murder of the police chief whose death resulted in the largest lynching in United States history, and the buffalo stationed next to a prominent family’s tomb.
This walking tour takes approximately two and a half hours and is just under two miles.