Cities of the Dead

What is Louisiana known for besides its cemeteries?

• Saints Football, Mardi Gras, red beans and rice

• Jazz music, beaches, and mountains

• Deserts, skiing, and surfing

• Volcanoes, glaciers, and tundra

What unique name is given to the cemeteries in Louisiana?

• Cities of the Dead

• Towns of the Living

• Villages of the Past

• Houses of History

Why do most cemeteries in the United States have burial plots below ground?

• To protect from weather

• To save space

• To preserve history

• To keep animals away

What problem arose when Louisiana was first founded regarding burials?

• Caskets would pop up out of the ground

• Cemeteries were too small

• There were too many burials

• The ground was too hard

What causes the soil in Southern Louisiana to become saturated?

• Hurricanes and heavy rain

• Snowstorms and ice

• Droughts and heat

• Earthquakes and landslides

What was one of the first solutions tried to keep caskets from floating?

• Weighing them down with heavy rocks

• Building larger cemeteries

• Using metal caskets

• Burying them deeper

What did citizens of Louisiana do to the caskets to try to prevent them from floating?

• Bored holes in them

• Painted them

• Covered them with tarps

• Wrapped them in cloth

What was the successful solution for burials in Louisiana?

• Building above ground crypts

• Using wooden caskets

• Burying in sand

• Creating underground vaults

What do the above ground tombs in Louisiana resemble?

• Small concrete buildings

• Large wooden houses

• Metal containers

• Glass structures

What surrounds some of the tombs in Louisiana?

• Rusty iron gates or religious statues

• Wooden fences

• Stone walls

• Electric fences