In recent years, discoveries have been made by archaeologists who surveyed the land near Bayou St. John for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The archaeologists’ discoveries included pottery shards, animal bones and fragments of clay tobacco pipes all from around 300-400 AD.

It’s also important to note the impact that the tragedies had on creating New Orleans’ essence. Add in all the fires, hurricanes, Yellow fever, and all the violence throughout the city’s history. New Orleans is such a strange and beautiful city, it has a different personality that one can’t find any place else. 

Also, we don’t bury our dead. With row after row of above-ground tombs, New Orleans cemeteries are often referred to as “Cities of the Dead." Enter the cemetery gates, and you will be greeted by rusty decorative ironwork and blinded by sun-bleached tombs. Crosses and statues on tomb surfaces cast contrasting shadows, adding to the sense of mystery. Candles line tombs on holidays, reminding you that the dead have living relatives who still care.