The Above Ground Cemetery In New Orleans That's Equal Parts Creepy And Fascinating

It opened in 1789 and replaced St. Peter Cemetery, which no longer exists. The cemetery was meant to be the main burial ground for residents after the city was rebuilt after the fire of 1788.

You’ll need a licensed tour guide to enter the cemetery. Tours are offered Monday-Saturday at 10am, 11:30am, and 1pm with a Sunday tour at 10am.

Homer Plessy, the plaintiff from the famous Plessy vs. Ferguson court case, Bernard de Marigny, the man who founded both the Marigny and Mandeville, Delphine LaLaurie, the infamous New Orleanian who tortured slaves, and countless others are all buried here.

Also known as the Voodoo Queen, hundreds of people visit her alleged tomb every year, leaving her offerings in hopes that their wishes would be granted. While it has been done in the past, do not mark an X on the tomb, as it’s considered vandalism.

That would be Nicholas Cage’s tomb. He purchased the plot in 2010 when he decided New Orleans would be his final resting place.

There have been numerous ghostly sightings over the years.

Several sightings of Marie Laveau have been reported over the years. While she’s been seen strolling through the French Quarter near her old house on St. Ann Street, she’s also been spotted in the cemetery, walking through the tombs. While not always the friendliest of spirits, many claim to have been pinched or scratched by her.

Henry Vignes was a sailor with no real home to go home to. He would stay at a boarding house in New Orleans in between ships, but never really grew roots anywhere. All he had to his name were these papers which included his family tomb information. While Henry was away at sea, the owner of the boarding house sold his family tomb. He died shortly after, and with no family plot to bury him in, he was buried in an unmarked grave in the pauper’s section of the cemetery.

Many have not only claimed to have seen the ghost of Henry Vignes, but many believe they have spoken to him also. Henry apparently asks unknowing tourists if they know where the Vignes tomb is located before vanishing into thin air.