"The cemetery had become a bit of a circus out there," Jessica Strawn, the city's acting superintendent of cemeteries, told NOLA.com before the gates reopened. "There was a complete lack of respect for people using the cemetery as it was meant to be used."
On Oct. 1, 2026, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 reopened after seven years closed. Every rule that came with the reopening points the same way. The cemetery at 1400 Washington Avenue now runs first for the families whose people are buried there. Visitors fit into the time that's left. For anyone who lives a few blocks away, that changes how the corner across from Commander's Palace feels on a weekday morning.
Seven Years Behind a Locked Gate
The city closed the cemetery in 2019. The closure was partly for repairs and partly in response to family concerns, according to Sara Lowenburg, director of Save Our Cemeteries. Those concerns were specific. Families paying respects at a loved one's grave would find guides nearby acting out movie scenes or telling supernatural stories. Paul Pastorek sits on the board of the Tomb and Coping Owners' Association. He said people burying family members were sometimes photographed by tourists. The association itself formed in 2019, after a tourist trying to look inside a tomb broke off a piece of it.
Founded in 1833, the cemetery is the oldest city-owned cemetery in New Orleans. Judge John Howard Ferguson of Plessy v. Ferguson is buried there. Its fame comes mostly from Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" and the film that followed. Tom Cruise was filmed walking among the tombs, and Rice once staged a mock funeral there.
During the closure, the city replaced the broken asphalt paths with gravel paths laid over a drainage lining. It removed dead magnolia trees, treated the living ones, and had a structural engineer review the wall foundation. Strawn said the reopening took this long because of limited staffing, personnel changes and the city's wish to research family concerns thoroughly. The work spanned two administrations and the pandemic, and burials continued the whole time the gates were closed to the public.
The New Rules, Read Together
The city sent out a request for proposals in May. After a public bid process, it chose the nonprofit Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans as the only tour operator. Save Our Cemeteries merged with the PRC last year and is now one of its departments.
| Rule | What it protects |
|---|---|
| One tour operator, chosen by the city | One consistent standard for how the cemetery is presented |
| No more than 16 guests per group | Room on the paths for mourners and maintenance crews |
| Tours of 75 to 90 minutes, in the mornings | A set window, so the rest of the day stays quiet |
| No ghost tours or supernatural content | A tone that suits an active burial ground |
| Guides reroute or pause for families | Privacy at the grave during a visit or burial |
| Closed to the public on family holidays | All Saints' Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day for families |
Strawn put the content rule in three words: "No ghost tours." Pastorek said the plan respects "the fact that it's still an active cemetery." The model has local precedent. In 2021, the Archdiocese of New Orleans limited tours of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 to a single company.
Whose Calendar the Gates Keep
The PRC states the priority order directly. Family visits, funerals, maintenance and cemetery operations all come before tours. Apart from booked tour groups, only family members of those buried there are allowed in. Families arrange visits by appointment through the city's Division of Cemeteries at (504) 658-3781. On special holidays the city lists hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for those visits. The Tomb and Coping Owners' Association says the city vets Lafayette No. 1 families. Its own inquiry form asks for the plot name or location and how the person asking is connected to the interred.
The most important date on that calendar is less than a month away. The PRC describes November 1, All Saints' Day, as the traditional day when families visit their loved ones and limewash and maintain their tombs. The association's account of All Saints' Day 2025 at Lafayette No. 1 describes families cleaning up, placing flowers, praying and visiting. This year the cemetery will be closed to tours that day.
The cemetery is also still taking new burials. This summer the PRC paid for a full restoration of the German Presbyterian Society Tomb, a 20-vault Gothic Revival tomb built in 1866. The work allows the Presbytery of South Louisiana, which owns the tomb, to reopen it for burials for families in need.
"This is an active burial ground and a sacred place of memory for families and communities, and that must come first." Sara Lowenburg, Director of Save Our Cemeteries
Where the Ticket Money Goes
Ownership inside the walls is split. Every tomb is privately owned and maintained by its owners. The city is responsible for the shared parts: walkways, walls, gates and lights.
The tour contract sends money to both sides of that split. According to the city's contract, as reported by NOLA.com, the city keeps 20% of tour revenue up to $150,000, and its share rises to 27.5% on revenue above $350,000. That money pays for cemetery maintenance. Another 5% of the PRC's tour revenue goes into a preservation fund for tomb repairs in city-owned cemeteries. The city did not disclose what the renovation cost. Save Our Cemeteries has already restored more than 50 family and society tombs inside Lafayette No. 1. Under the new contract, each tour ticket now helps pay for that kind of repair work.
Taking Guests Through
For a neighbor hosting visitors, booking runs through the PRC's tour page. The 90-minute tour costs $30 for adults and $15 for children ages 6 to 12. Children under 6 go free. The PRC lists no discount for residents or members. Fox 8 reported daily departures between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. The PRC calls the schedule seasonal and subject to cemetery operations and closures, so check the live calendar for the day you want. The tour listing doesn't name a gate. City rules require guides to set a meeting place and time with booked guests in advance.
The Tomb and Coping Owners' Association says city policy prohibits public photography inside the cemetery. The PRC's listing doesn't say whether tour guests are an exception, so ask before raising a camera. The PRC also plans up to 10 free tours a year for New Orleans public-school groups, plus discounts for educational groups, veterans' groups and local nonprofits.
The PRC has also scheduled a free volunteer cleanup at the cemetery on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 9 to 11 a.m. No experience is needed, but registration is required. When last checked, the registration page showed it as sold out.
A Morning on the Corner
Because tours run only in the morning, a visit fits a natural route around Washington Avenue and Prytania Street.
- Coffee first. Le Petit Bleu, at 1427 Washington Avenue, opens daily at 7 a.m. and serves crêpes and coffee. The Chicory House, inside The Rink, opens at 7 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. on weekends. It's the café that took over the space once known as Still Perkin'.
- The tour. Plan on 75 to 90 minutes inside the walls at 1400 Washington Avenue.
- A stop at The Rink. The building has been a Garden District gathering place since 1884. Garden District Book Shop, at 2727 Prytania Street, opens at 9 a.m. every day. The Rink has posted an undated notice about a parking garage refresh with weekday closures, so check before you drive.
- Lunch across the street. Commander's Palace, at 1403 Washington Avenue, serves lunch Wednesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m., when its 25-cent martini lunch is also offered. Jazz brunch runs Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For something lighter, Aquila Bistro at 2042 Prytania Street serves specialty coffee, sandwiches and pastries for breakfast and lunch every day.
A 9 a.m. tour that ends around 10:30 leaves time for the bookshop before Commander's opens for lunch on a weekday.
If you own property near Washington Avenue and want to talk through how the reopened cemetery may change daily life on your blocks, Jolí Burrell Real Estate is glad to have that conversation with you, and to share what we're seeing across the Garden District. Contact Us.
