Metairie Cemetery is a cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The name has caused some people to mistakenly presume that the cemetery is located in Metairie, Louisiana; but it is located within the New Orleans city limits, on Metairie Road (and formerly on the banks of the since filled-in Bayou Metairie).
This site was previously a horse racing track, Metairie Race Course, founded in 1838.
The race track was the site of the famous Lexington-Lecomte Race, April 1, 1854, billed as the "North against the South" race. Former President Millard Fillmore attended. While racing was suspended because of the American Civil War, it was used as a Confederate Camp (Camp Moore) until David Farragut took New Orleans for the Union in April 1862. Metairie Cemetery was built upon the grounds of the old Metairie Race Course after it went bankrupt. The race track, which was owned by the Metairie Jockey Club, refused membership to Charles T. Howard, a local resident who had gained his wealth by starting the first Louisiana State Lottery. After being refused membership, Howard vowed that the race course would become a cemetery. Sure enough, after the Civil War and Reconstruction, the track went bankrupt and Howard was able to see his curse come true. Today, Howard is buried in his tomb located on Central Avenue in the cemetery, which was built following the original oval layout of the track itself. Mr. Howard died in 1885 in Dobbs Ferry, New York when he fell from a newly purchased horse.
Metairie Cemetery was previously owned and operated by Stewart Enterprises, Inc., of Jefferson, Louisiana. However, in December 2013, Service Corporation International bought Metairie Cemetery and other Stewart locations.
Metairie Cemetery has the largest collection of elaborate marble tombs and funeral statuary in the city.
One of the most famous is the Army of Tennessee, Louisiana Division monument, a monumental tomb of Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War. The monument includes two notable works by sculptor Alexander Doyle (1857–1922):
Atop the tomb is an 1877 equestrian statue of General Albert Sidney Johnston on his horse "Fire-eater", holding binoculars in his right hand. General Johnston was for a time entombed here, but the remains were later removed to Texas.To the right of the entrance to the tomb is an 1885 life size statue represents a Confederate officer about to read the roll of the dead during the American Civil War. The statue is said to be modeled after Sergeant William Brunet of the Louisiana Guard Battery, but is intended to represent all Confederate soldiers.Other notable monuments in Metairie Cemetery include:
the pseudo-Egyptian pyramid;Laure Beauregard Larendon's tomb, which features Moorish details and beautiful stained glass;the former tomb of Storyville madam Josie Arlington;the Moriarty tomb with a marble monument with a height of 60 feet (18 m) tall, which required the construction of a temporary special spur railroad line to transport the monument's building materials to the cemetery; andthe memorial of 19th-century police chief David Hennessy, whose murder sparked a riot.The initial construction of at least one of these elaborate final resting places – restaurateur Ruth Fertel’s mausoleum – is estimated to have cost between $125,000 to $500,000 (in late 20th century dollars).
List of notable and celebrity burials
Algernon Sidney Badger, New Orleans government official during and after ReconstructionT. L. Bayne, first Tulane University football coach and organizer of first football game in New OrleansP.G.T. Beauregard, Confederate General. Former Superintendent at West Point.Renato Cellini, operatic conductorWilliam C. C. Claiborne, first U.S. Governor of LouisianaMarguerite Clark, stage & film actressLewis Strong Clarke, sugar planter and Republican politicianIsaac Cline was the chief meteorologist at the Galveston, Texas office of the US Weather Bureau from 1889 to 1901. In that role, he became an integral figure in the devastating Galveston Hurricane of 1900.Hamilton D. Coleman was a businessman who held Louisiana's 2nd congressional district seat from 1889 to 1891. He was the last Republican member of the U.S. House from Louisiana until 1973.Al Copeland, founder of Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and several other restaurants.Jefferson Davis was buried at Metairie Cemetery, but his remains were later moved to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.Dorothy Dell, film actress of the 1930sDorothy Dix, advice columnistCharles E. Dunbar, New Orleans attorney and civil service reformerJoachim O. Fernández, U.S. Representative from Louisiana's 1st congressional district from 1931 to 1941Ruth U. Fertel, founder of Ruth's Chris Steak HouseBenjamin Flanders, Reconstruction-era state governor and New Orleans mayorJim Garrison, New Orleans District AttorneyMichael Hahn, Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives and Governor of LouisianaBenjamin Morgan Harrod, civil engineer who designed New Orleans water/sewerage systemWilliam W. Heard, Governor of Louisiana from 1900-1904William G. Helis, Sr., American oilman, racehorse/owner breederAndrew Higgins, inventor of the "Higgins Boat"Al Hirt, jazz trumpeterKen Hollis, state senator from Jefferson ParishJohn Bell Hood, Confederate GeneralChapman H. Hyams, stockbroker, businessman and philanthropistEd Karst, mayor of Alexandria, Louisiana, from 1969 to 1973Grace King, authorRichard W. Leche, Governor of LouisianaHarry Lee, Sheriff of Jefferson Parish, LouisianaSamuel D. McEnery, Governor of LouisianaJohn Albert Morris, the "Lottery King"deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr., Mayor of New OrleansdeLesseps Story "Toni" Morrison, Jr., state legislator from Orleans ParishElwyn Nicholson, state senator from 1972 to 1988, grocery store ownerAlton Ochsner, surgeon, co-founder of Ochsner Clinic (now Ochsner Health System)Lionel Ott, member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1940 to 1945 and the last New Orleans finance commissioner from 1946 to 1954Mel Ott, Hall of Fame Major League Baseball PlayerBenjamin M. Palmer, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans (1856–1902)John M. Parker, governor of LouisianaP. B. S. Pinchback, African American Governor of Louisiana for 35 days, 1872–1873Louis Prima, bandleaderStan Rice, poetJohn Leonard Riddell, melter and refiner of Mint 1839-1848, Postmaster 1859-1862, inventor of the binocular microscopeLouis J. Roussel, Jr., businessman and political donorJohn G. Schwegmann, supermarket pioneer and member of both houses of the Louisiana State LegislatureJames Z. Spearing, U.S. representative, 1924-1931, from Louisiana's 2nd congressional districtNorman Treigle, opera starHelen Turner, painterCora Witherspoon, stage and screen character actress
