Metairie Cemetery is a historic cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, founded in 1872.[2] The name has caused some people to mistakenly presume it 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).
The Spring Meeting of The Metairie Jockey Club for 1839 over the Metairie Course commenced on Tuesday, March 26, and lasted for six days. The First Day of racing Sweepstakes for 3-year olds, 2 Mile Heats, Entrance Fee $1,000, Forfeit Fee $250, Nine Subscribers: Montfort Wells' Beeswing, C.C.S. Farrar, D. Stephenson's Dublin, H.A. Tayloe, Minor Kenner's Greydoc, Ira Smith's Maria, James S. Garrison's Altorf, William R. Barrow's Picayune, James Shy's Curculia. Same Day, A match between the noted trotting horses Bird and Confidence, 2-mile heats in harnesses for $6,000. Second Day, Wednesday, March 27, Jockey Club Purse $800, 2 Mile Heats. Same Day Sweepstakes for Gentlemen Riders, 2 Mile Heats, Entrance Fee $50, the proprietors to add a silver cup, value $300. Third Day, Jockey Club Purse $1,200, 3 Mile Heats. Fourth Day, Jockey Club Purse $2,000, 4 Mile Heats. Fifth Day, Jockey Club Purse $600, Mile Heats, best 3 in 5. Same Day, Sweepstakes for 2 Year Olds, Mile Heats, Entrance Fee $500, Forfeit Fee $150, seven subscribers:Montfort Wells, A.L. Bingaman, C.C.S. Farrar, W.J. Minor, Minor Kenner, W.R. Barrow, James Shy. Sixth Day, Proprietors Purse, $1,000, 3 Mile Heats. Same Day, Match between the celebrated trotting hosrse Pompeii and Rolla, best 3 in 5, in harness for $1,000. P. CENAS Secretary.[5]
In 1848 Richard Ten Broeck, later part of the syndicate that purchased Lexington, bought the course and likewise established a joint-stock company, officially founding The Metairie Jockey Club.[6]
The race track was the site of the famous Lexington-Lecomte Race, April 1, 1854, billed as the "Great States" 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.
Before becoming a cemetery, the site, established on a high-and-dry ridge along Bayou Metairie (now Metairie Road),[3] was a horse racing track, founded in 1838 by Col. James Garrison and Richard Adams[4] who acquired the land from the New Orleans Canal and Banking Company. Its first president was Alexander Barrow and board of governors included: George B. Mulligan, Thomas W. Chinn, Balie Peyton, Samuel Jarvis Peters, Thomas J. Wells, George B. Ogden (President of New Orleans Canal and Banking Company), and Miner Kenner.
The Spring Meeting of The Metairie Jockey Club for 1839 over the Metairie Course commenced on Tuesday, March 26, and lasted for six days. The First Day of racing Sweepstakes for 3-year olds, 2 Mile Heats, Entrance Fee $1,000, Forfeit Fee $250, Nine Subscribers: Montfort Wells' Beeswing, C.C.S. Farrar, D. Stephenson's Dublin, H.A. Tayloe, Minor Kenner's Greydoc, Ira Smith's Maria, James S. Garrison's Altorf, William R. Barrow's Picayune, James Shy's Curculia. Same Day, A match between the noted trotting horses Bird and Confidence, 2-mile heats in harnesses for $6,000. Second Day, Wednesday, March 27, Jockey Club Purse $800, 2 Mile Heats. Same Day Sweepstakes for Gentlemen Riders, 2 Mile Heats, Entrance Fee $50, the proprietors to add a silver cup, value $300. Third Day, Jockey Club Purse $1,200, 3 Mile Heats. Fourth Day, Jockey Club Purse $2,000, 4 Mile Heats. Fifth Day, Jockey Club Purse $600, Mile Heats, best 3 in 5. Same Day, Sweepstakes for 2 Year Olds, Mile Heats, Entrance Fee $500, Forfeit Fee $150, seven subscribers:Montfort Wells, A.L. Bingaman, C.C.S. Farrar, W.J. Minor, Minor Kenner, W.R. Barrow, James Shy. Sixth Day, Proprietors Purse, $1,000, 3 Mile Heats. Same Day, Match between the celebrated trotting hosrse Pompeii and Rolla, best 3 in 5, in harness for $1,000. P. CENAS Secretary.[5]
In 1848 Richard Ten Broeck, later part of the syndicate that purchased Lexington, bought the course and likewise established a joint-stock company, officially founding The Metairie Jockey Club.[6]
The race track was the site of the famous Lexington-Lecomte Race, April 1, 1854, billed as the "Great States" 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. 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.[7]
"Undoubtedly the Metairie Cemetery is destined to be the great Necropolis of the South. As far as its location, ornaments, care and poetry are concerned, we say that this great city of the dead is unrivaled."
- Staff writer
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):
Other notable monuments in Metairie Cemetery include:
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).[9]
