# New Orleans cemeteries

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-cemeteries/206231>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 8, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-cemeteries/206231 "2003-10-08T04:52:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![asomihite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@asomihite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asomihite)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-cemeteries/206231/1 "2003-10-08T04:52:12Z")

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I heard that all graves in New Orleans cemeteries are above ground. Is this true?? If so, why?

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-cemeteries/206231/2 "2003-10-08T04:56:50Z")

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[http://www.experienceneworleans.com/deadcity.html](http://www.experienceneworleans.com/deadcity.html)

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**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-cemeteries/206231/3 "2003-10-08T05:00:38Z")

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They are not **ALL** above ground but most of them are. The ones that aren’t usually have a concrete slab or crypt to keep them in place since New Orleans is in a flood plain and most folks are kinda turned off by caskets floating to the surface through the soggy ground.

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**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-cemeteries/206231/4 "2003-10-08T05:34:48Z")

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Yep, New Orleans is below sea level. You dig down, you hit water. When it floods–as it does almost constantly–coffins would float.

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**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-cemeteries/206231/5 "2003-10-08T05:39:09Z")

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More convenient for the vampires; less last-minute 4 a.m. shoveling involved.

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**Author:** ![thatDDperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@thatDDperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thatDDperson)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-orleans-cemeteries/206231/6 "2003-10-08T07:09:32Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \*  
> \*\*Yep, New Orleans is below sea level. You dig down, you hit water. When it floods–as it does almost constantly–coffins would float. \*\*

Even when using concrete vaults (like we do on the Gulf Coast of Texas) there is a problem with floaters.

Galveston, Texas (on the island) has similar cemetaries, but just inland, most are below ground burials.

During the 1900 Storm (big hurricane at Galveston) a number of coffins were washed up and carried to the mainland. There was one stuck in the big pecan tree at my great-grandparents house.