St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 Review

Just one block from the French Quarter, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, founded in the late 1700s, is the oldest and most famous of New Orleans's cities of the dead. Its stately rows of crypts are home to many of the city's most legendary figures, including Homer Plessy of the Plessy vs. Ferguson 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing the separate but equal "Jim Crow" laws, and voodoo queen Marie Laveau, whose grave is still a choice destination among the spiritual, the superstitious, and the curious. The Basin Street location of this cemetery is near a downtown housing project, so visitors are advised to exercise great caution when exploring this site. The safest way to visit is to join one of the many group tours that come through each day. The nonprofit group Save Our Cemeteries (504/525-3377) gives guided tours Fridays and Saturdays at 10 am and 1 pm and Sundays at 10 am leaving from the Basin Street Station Visitors Center at 501 Basin Street.