Advanced Tomb Search Guidelines

Listed below are the advanced search guidelines for researching tombs on this site. For more information on the difference between the numbering systems of The Historic New Orleans Collection (THNOC) and the Archdiocese of New Orleans, or the differences between freestanding tombs and wall vaults, click here.

 

Field by Field Search Options:

1. Cemetery: Search by selecting ‘St. Louis #1’ or ‘St. Louis #2’ for specific searches, or select ‘All Cemeteries’ to search both
2. Street: Search by the name of footpaths called alleys, aisles, and parallels (or “streets”) within each cemetery. This field employs autocompleting; begin entering a letter or number to see a drop-down of all the possibilities with that character.
3. THNOC Tomb Number: Search by THNOC tomb identifier in ### format such as 111. If an ‘E’ is listed at the end of the number sequence, this plot is empty and has no tomb structures. This field employs autocompleting; begin entering a number to see a drop-down of all the possibilities with that number.
4. Archdiocesan Tomb Number: Search by Archdiocesan tomb identifier containing both numbers and abbreviations, such as ANo10_R10 or CoA_R10. See an explanation of this numbering system here. This field employs autocompleting; begin entering a letter or number to see a drop-down of all the possibilities with that character.
5. Name on Pediment: Search by family name or other family information recorded on tomb’s pediment; names may or may not be recorded in the Memorialized search fields. This field employs autocompleting; begin entering a letter or number to see a drop-down of all the possibilities with that character.
6. Inscription: Search by tomb inscription; names may or may not be recorded in the Memorialized search fields. This field employs autocompleting; begin entering a letter or number to see a drop-down of all the possibilities with that character.
7. Language: Search by language used on tomb. Select choice from dropdown list.
8. Architect/Stone Mason: Search by tomb architect or mason. This information was not available for many tombs. This field is auto complete. Begin entering a letter or number to see a drop-down of all the possibilities with that character.
9. Material: Search by checking box/es of material/s.
10. Condition: Search by checking box/es of condition/s.
11. Symbols/Decoration: Search by checking box/es of symbols or decorations.

 

‘Exact’ versus ‘Like’ Search Options:

• Selecting ‘Exact’ will return only results that exactly match the search terms.
• Selecting ‘Like’ will return results that begin with the characters selected. For example, searching Archdiocesan tomb numbers by choosing ‘like’ and entering ‘ca’ will return results for CAR_2, CAL_9, CA_R30, CA_L7, etc.

 

THNOC versus Archdiocesan Tomb Numbers:

Researchers can search by tomb number using either the numbering system employed by The Historic New Orleans Collection (THNOC) in its cemetery surveys, or by the Archdiocese of New Orleans in its day-to-day operations. The researcher should be cautioned that the two systems are dramatically different. THNOC numbers are simple ordinal numbers, e.g., tombs 1 through 315; Archdiocesan numbers are more complex and include “street” name abbreviations. For example, in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, THNOC tomb 315 is Archdiocesan tomb ANo10_R8 (Alley Number 10, Right of Center Alley, Tomb 8).

In THNOC’s numbering system, the free-standing tombs were assigned numbers reflecting the order in which they were photographed and documented during the survey for each cemetery and square. Each number is therefore used only once in each cemetery square, i.e. there is one Tomb numbered 75 in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1; one Tomb numbered 75 in St. Louis Cemetery No. 2, Square 1; one Tomb numbered 75 in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, Square 2; etc.

The Archdiocese’s numbering system assigns tomb numbers using an alphanumeric ‘address’ based on the names of the “streets” (alleys, parallels) within each cemetery and the names of the four streets bounding each square (Basin Street, Treme Street, Claiborne Avenue, etc.), and on the number of tombs (1, 2, 3... x) along that section of that “street”. Thus, the numbers 1, 2, 3, etc. are used multiple times in a single cemetery square: just as you can have the house numbers/addresses “12 Main Street” and “12 Elm Street” in the same square city block, you can have the tomb numbers/addresses “Basin Alley 12” and “St. Louis Street 12” in the same cemetery square.

The two types of numbers can be seen on cemetery maps by comparing THNOC cemetery maps with those created and numbered by the Archdiocese on the Cemetery Maps page of this website. Also, two crosswalks, one for St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 (STL1) and one for St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 (STL2) have also been created for side-by-side comparison of the two numbering systems and can be accessed on the Advanced Tomb Search page under STL1  SQR 1 CROSSWALK and STL2 CROSSWALK (**or whatever the buttons say).  These crosswalks provide a side-by-side comparison of both types of tomb numbers for every plot and tomb. They also provide a guide to the abbreviations used in the Archdiocesan numbering system, which can be complex.

The survey identified 640 freestanding tombs in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and a combined 1,156 freestanding tombs in the three squares of St. Louis Cemetery No. 2.

 

Empty Plots:

There are numerous empty plots in the various cemetery squares. The Archdiocese maintains alphanumeric addresses for almost all of these empty plots, for example, the empty plot at the address Basin Parallel No. 1 Right 4 (BPNo1_R4) lies in between the third tomb on that pathway, Basin Parallel No. 1 Right 3 (BPNo1_R3), and the fifth tomb on it, Basin Parallel No. 1 Right 5 (BPNo1_R5).

The original THNOC survey did not assign numbers to empty plots, but in this database, they are indicated using the number of an adjacent tomb followed by an “E,” for “Empty.” The empty plot mentioned above, Basin Parallel No. 1 Right 4, is given the THNOC number 35E, lying as it does next to Tomb No. 35.

 

Wall Vaults:

Wall vaults are stacked rows of contiguous tomb vaults that are built against a cemetery’s outer walls. The THNOC survey identified 225 wall vaults in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and a combined 2,396 wall vaults in the three squares of St. Louis Cemetery No. 2.

The relationship between the two sets of Wall Vault numbers is regular and predictable, for both St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and No. 2.

Both systems count columns of vaults left-to-right, 1, 2, 3, etc., but while the Archdiocese labels the rows, top-to-bottom, as Ranges 4, 3, 2, 1, THNOC labels the rows top-to-bottom as (Rows) A, B, C, D.

So, for example, in STL1, the Archdiocese’s vault number for the highest, left-most vault along the Basin Street wall is Basin_1_Range_4, while THNOC’s number for this same vault is Basin_1A, as can be seen (highlighted) in the charts below:

 

Archdiocese’s Wall-Vault Numbering System

Vaults: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Range 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Range 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Range 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Range 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

 

THN0C’s Wall-Vault Numbering System

Vaults: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
(Row) A A A A A A A A
(Row) B B B B B B B B
(Row) C C C C C C C C
(Row) D D D D D D D D

 

Note: Along many sections of the various cemeteries’ walls, the bottom-most rows of the vaults have sunk partially or are now entirely below ground level, so be aware that the vaults in those bottom rows (the Archdiocesan Range 1 and THNOC Row D) often could not be seen or documented at the time the THNOC survey was created.