Things to do nearLafayette Cemetery No. 2

Lafayette Cemetery No. 2 was established in the mid-nineteenth century to serve the working-class residents of Lafayette, then an independent municipality that was later absorbed into New Orleans. Unlike the more visited Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 a few blocks away, this cemetery retains a rawer, less manicured character that many visitors find deeply compelling.

The cemetery is notable for its collection of society tombs, large communal vaults built and maintained by mutual aid organizations that helped immigrant communities cover burial costs. Irish, German, and Italian societies are all represented here, their names carved into stone facades that speak to the waves of immigration that shaped New Orleans in the 1800s.

Above-ground burial, a practice rooted in the city's high water table and French and Spanish colonial traditions, is on full display throughout the grounds. The vaulted brick tombs, many in various states of picturesque decay, give the cemetery a sculptural quality unlike any conventional burial ground.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 2 rewards slow, attentive exploration and offers a genuine window into the social history of a neighborhood still rich with nineteenth-century architecture.