Cemetery sights in USA
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Metairie Cemetery
Visiting other New Orleans cemeteries doesn’t quite prepare you for the architectural splendor and over-the-top extravagance of Metairie Cemetery. Established in 1872 on a former race track (the grounds, you’ll notice, still follow the oval layout), this is the most American of New Orleans’ cities of the dead and, like the houses of the Garden District, its tombs appear to be attempts at one-upmanship. This is the final resting place for many of New Orleans’ most prominent citizens. William Charles Cole Claiborne, Louisiana’s first American governor, rests here, as does Confederate General PGT Beauregard. Jefferson Davis was originally interred here, only to be moved to…
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Lafayette Cemetery No 1
This necropolis was established in 1833 by the former City of Lafayette. Sitting as it does just across from Commander’s Palace and shaded by magnificent groves of lush greenery, the cemetery has a strong sense of Southern subtropical gothic about it. The layout is divided by two intersecting footpaths that form a cross. As you walk about, look out for the constructs built by fraternal organizations such as the Jefferson Fire Company No 22, which took care of their members and their families in large shared crypts. Some of the wealthier family tombs were built of marble, with elaborate detail rivaling the finest architecture in the district, but most tombs were…
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Green-Wood Cemetery
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Copp’s Hill Burying Ground
The city’s second-oldest cemetery – dating to 1660 – is the final resting place for an estimated 10,000 souls. It is named for William Copp, who originally owned this land. While the oldest graves belong to Copp's children, there are several other noteworthy residents.
Near the Charter St gate you'll find the graves of the Mather family – Increase, Cotton and Samuel – all of whom were politically powerful religious leaders in the colonial community. Front and center is the grave of Daniel Malcolm, whose headstone commemorates his rebel activism. British soldiers apparently took offense at this claim and used the headstone for target practice. The small plot of…
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Key West Cemetery
A darkly alluring Gothic labyrinth beckons (rather incongruously) at the center of this pastel town. Built in 1847, the cemetery crowns Solares Hill, the highest point on the island (with an elevation of all of 16ft). Some of the oldest families in the Keys rest in peace – and close proximity – here. With body space at a premium, the mausoleums stand practically shoulder to shoulder. Island quirkiness penetrates the gloom: seashells and green macramé adorn headstones with inscriptions like, 'I told you I was sick.' Get chaperoned by a guide from the Historic Florida Keys Foundation, with guided tours for $10 per person at 9:30am on Tuesday and Thursday; departs from…
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Forest Hills Cemetery
Dating to 1848, Forest Hills is a gorgeous, green cemetery that is filled with art and whimsy. It is still an active burial ground, but it also plays the role of open-air museum. The walking paths are lined with sculptures paying tribute to individuals and causes from times past, while a contemporary sculpture path winds its way around the historic gravestones, connecting then and now.
Gravestones include such famous figures as revolutionary heroes William Dawes and Joseph Warren; abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and suffragette Lucy Stone; poets ee cummings and Anne Sexton; sculptors Daniel Chester French and Martin Milmore; and playwright Eugene O’Neill. The…
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St Roch Cemetery & Chapel
One of New Orleans’ more interesting cemeteries, and arguably the most eccentric chapel, is dominated by a necropolis and ‘relic room’ that’s a great example of the old Catholic practice of offering fake body parts to the healing power of a sacred site. You’ll see all sorts of ceramic body parts (ankles, heads, breasts), prosthetics, leg braces, crutches and false teeth hanging from the walls. these are ex-votos, testaments to the healing power of St Roch. The chapel has been appropriated by syncretic voodoo worshippers as well, and if you take a picture inside, floating orbs may appear in your photo, which could be spirits of the dead, or manifestations of saintly…
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Miami City Cemetery
This quiet graveyard, the final resting place of some of Miami-Dade's most important citizens, is a sort of narrative of the history of the Magic City cast in bone, dirt and stone. The dichotomy of the past and modernity gets a nice visual representation in the form of looming condos shadowing the last abode of the Magic City's late, great ones. More than 9000 graves are divided into separate white, black and Jewish sections. Buried here are mayors, veterans (including about 90 Confederate soldiers) and the godmother of South Florida, Julia Tuttle, who purchased the first orange groves that attracted settlers to the area.
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Grove Street Cemetery
Three blocks north of the green, this cemetery holds the graves of several famous New Havenites behind its grand Egyptian Revival gate, including rubber magnate Charles Goodyear, the telegraph inventor Samuel Morse, lexicographer Noah Webster and cotton-gin inventor Eli Whitney. It was the first chartered cemetery in the country in 1797 and the first to arrange graves by family plots. Around the turn of the century, Yale medical students would sneak in at night to dig up bodies for dissection, but you can simply join the free walking tour at 11am on Saturdays.
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Central Burying Ground
Dating to 1756, the Central Burying Ground is the least celebrated of the old cemeteries, as it was the burial ground of the down-and-out (according to one account, used for ‘Roman Catholics and strangers dying in the town’). Some reports indicate that it contains an unmarked mass grave for British soldiers who died in the Battle of Bunker Hill. The most recognized name here is the artist-in-residence, Gilbert Stuart. Sometimes called the ‘Father of American Portraiture,’ Stuart painted the portrait of George Washington that now graces the dollar bill.
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Mount Auburn Cemetery
On a sunny day, this delightful spot at the end of Brattle St is worth the 30-minute walk west from Harvard Sq. Developed in 1831, it was the first ‘garden cemetery’ in the US. Maps pinpoint the rare botanical specimens and notable burial plots.
Famous long-term residents include Mary Baker Eddy (founder of the Christian Science Church), Isabella Stewart Gardner (socialite and art collector), Winslow Homer (19th-century American painter), Oliver Wendell Holmes (US Supreme Court Justice) and Henry W Longfellow (19th-century writer).
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Pierce Bros. Westwood Memorial Park
Half the challenge is finding this postage stamp–sized cemetery. Tucked behind a commercial building, celebrity-filled Westwood Memorial seems the current Hyde Lounge of the postlife set. Truman Capote, Dean Martin and Marilyn Monroe – see the lipstick prints – crowd sanctuaries near the entrance while headstones for rabble-rousers like Rodney ‘There goes the neighborhood’ Dangerfield keep ‘em chuckling in back.
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Woodlawn Cemetery
As elegant as Brooklyn’s Green-Wood is this 400-acre cemetery, the top resting place in the Bronx. It dates from the Civil War (1863) and actually has more big names than Green-Wood – and it is a contest – among its 300,000 headstones, including Herman Melville and jazz greats such as Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. Ask at the front for a photo pass if you want to snap pictures.
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St Louis Cemetery No 1
This cemetery received the remains of most early Creoles. The shallow water table necessitated aboveground burials, with bodies placed in the family tombs you see to this day. The supposed grave of voodoo queen Marie Laveau is here, scratched with 'XXX's from spellbound devotees – this is graffiti you shouldn't add to, per the request of the family that owns the tomb.
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St Louis Cemetery No 3
This relatively tiny cemetery was established in 1854 at the site of the old Bayou Cemetery and is worth strolling through for a few minutes (longer if you’re a cemetery enthusiast). Of particular note is the striking monument James Gallier Jr designed for his mother and father, who were lost at sea. The cemetery’s wrought-iron entrance gate is a beauty.
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Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield
After his assassination, Lincoln’s body was returned to Springfield, where it lies today. The impressive Lincoln’s Tomb sits in Oak Ridge Cemetery, north of downtown. The gleam on the nose of Lincoln’s bust, created by visitors’ touches, indicates the numbers of people who come to pay their respects.
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Oak Hill Cemetery
This 24-acre, obelisk-studded cemetery contains winding walks and 19th-century gravestones set into the hillsides of Rock Creek. It’s a fantastic spot for a quiet walk, especially in spring, when it seems like every wildflower in existence blooms on the grounds. James Renwick designed the lovely gatehouse and charming gneiss chapel.
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Hollywood Cemetery
This tranquil cemetery, perched above the James River rapids, contains the gravesites of two US presidents (James Monroe and John Tyler), the only Confederate president (Jefferson Davis) and 18,000 Confederate soldiers. Free walking tours are given at 10am, Monday through Saturday.
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Granary Burying Ground
Dating to 1660, this atmospheric atoll is crammed with historic headstones, many with evocative (and creepy) carvings. This is the final resting place of all your favorite revolutionary heroes including Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and James Otis. Benjamin Franklin is buried in Philadelphia, but the Franklin family plot contains his parents.
The five victims of the Boston Massacre share a common grave, though the only name you are likely to recognize is that of Crispus Attucks, the freed slave who is considered the first person to lose his life in the struggle for American independence. Other noteworthy permanent residents include Peter Faneuil, of Faneuil Hall…
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Westwood Village Memorial Park
Tucked among Westwood's high-rises, this postage-stamp-sized park is packed with such famous 6ft-under residents as Marilyn Monroe, Burt Lancaster and Rodney Dangerfield.
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New York Marble Cemetery
Manhattan's first nonsectarian burial spot, dating from the 1800s, has a wonderful air of history and decay. It's where many prominent New Yorkers are getting their permanent rest.
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First Shearith Israel Graveyard
The First Shearith Israel Graveyard is the city’s first Jewish cemetery, with headstones dating from the 1600s.
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Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
This is the final resting place for the most famous Concordians. Though the entrance is only a block east of Monument Sq, the most interesting part, Authors’ Ridge, is a 15-minute walk along Bedford St. You’ll find Thoreau and his family buried here, as well as the Alcotts and the Hawthornes.
Emerson’s tombstone is the large uncarved rock of New England marble, an appropriate Transcendentalist symbol.
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Westminster Cemetery
Around the corner, Edgar Allan Poe is buried in Westminster Cemetery. If you are here around his birthday, January 19, you may see roses and cognac decorating the gravesite.
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Lincoln's Tomb
After his assassination, Lincoln's body was returned to Springfield, where it lies in an impressive tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery, 1.5 miles north of downtown. The gleam on the nose of Lincoln's bust, created by visitors' light touches, indicates the numbers of those who pay their respects here.
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