About St. Louis Number One

St. Louis Number One, c. 1905

History

St. Louis Number One was built in 1789. It is the oldest cemetery in the metro New Orleans area. Its location, on what is now Basin Street between Conti and St. Louis Streets was actually outside of the city at the time it was built (figure 1). Like most cemeteries, it was built just out of town, but the town eventually overtook the cemetery. The neighborhood around the cemetery became known as Faubourg Treme, then later it was known as the infamous "Storyville" red-light district.

Figure 1: Colonial New Orleans, 1715-1803. The star outside the city rampart indicates the location of St. Louis Cemetery Number One

Getting to the Cemetery

The neighborhood around St. Louis Number One is not the best in the world. If you're not familiar with New Orleans' layout and geography, please read our Cemetery Overview page before setting out on your own to explore any of our cemeteries. Several housing projects grew up around the cemetery, and the crime rate in those projects is not good. We highly recommend that you take an organized tour of St. Louis Number One. The Voodoo Museum and Magic Walking Tours both offer excellent tours. There's safety in numbers, and we want you to be safe.

If you insist on striking out on your own, please consider at least going in a group. If you're coming from downtown or the Quarter, take either Royal or Bourbon Street to Conti, then walk up Conti to Basin Street (figure 2). Along the way, you'll pass Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, on Conti and N. Rampart Streets. The church was originally the mortuary chapel for the cemetery. You'll see the whitewashed wall of the cemetery when you get behind the church. Enter and exit the main entrance on Basin, and hi-tail it out of there if you see anyone suspicious! It's best to go around 1:00pm, since this is when most of the organized tours go through the cemetery.

Figure 2: The blue star marks the location of St. Louis Number One.

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