Stories
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1Photo: MusikAnimal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Walking tour · New Orleans

Garden District Walking Tour: Mansions and Lafayette Cemetery

Mansions, ironwork and Lafayette Cemetery

54 min8 stops1.3 mi

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Stop 1 is free, no sign-up. All 8 for $4.99, refunded within 7 days if it isn't for you.

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The 8 stops

  1. 1Start hereFree

    Lafayette Cemetery No. 1

    The Judge Behind the Wall

    Free sample · 2:35
    0:002:35

    You're standing at the wall of Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, in the Garden District. Look over or through it at the whitewashed tombs packed shoulder to shoulder, little houses for the dead. This one city block holds about 1,100 family tombs and some 7,000 people. When it was laid out in 1833, this ground wasn't New Orleans at all. It belonged to the separate City of Lafayette, which New Orleans swallowed in 1852. It was the city's first planned cemetery, built in the shape of a cross so funeral processions could pass down its center aisles.

    Somewhere in there lies John Howard Ferguson. His name is in nearly every American history textbook, and almost nobody knows who he was. He's the Ferguson in Plessy versus Ferguson.

    It began with a trap set on purpose. In 1890 Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act, forcing Black and white passengers into separate railroad cars. A group of Creoles of color in New Orleans, the Comité des Citoyens, decided to fight it in court, and they needed a test case. In 1892 a shoemaker named Homer Plessy volunteered. He bought a first-class ticket, sat in the car reserved for white passengers, and was arrested, exactly as planned.

    Ferguson was the judge who heard the case, and the name stuck to it for good. Plessy lost, and the fight climbed all the way to Washington.

    In 1896 the United States Supreme Court upheld segregation, seven to one. Separate, the Court said, could be equal. It wasn't. That decision gave legal cover to Jim Crow across the South for nearly 60 years: separate schools, separate waiting rooms, separate water fountains, and the daily message to millions of Black Americans that they were second-class citizens. It took Brown versus Board of Education, in 1954, to begin undoing it.

    So think about the scale of it. A man resting in a quiet tomb, in a block you can cross in a minute, gave his name to a ruling that shaped American life for generations. Not far from him lies Harry T. Hays, a Confederate general who led the Louisiana Tigers. The dead here keep complicated company.

    The City of New Orleans closed the cemetery to visitors in 2019, and no reopening date has been given. So for now, you can only look in from out here. The judge stays behind the wall. His ruling, unfortunately, never did.

    Walk northeast, then turn right onto Washington Avenue. It's about 140 meters, a two-minute stroll.

The whole walk

8 stories across New Orleans

54 min · 8 stops · 1.3 mi

Starts at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 and ends at Buckner Mansion.

  • Plays right here in your browser, or in the app
  • One purchase for your group, on up to 4 phones
  • Refunded within 7 days if it isn't for you

Plan your walk

    How long

    About 54 min for 1.3 mi with all 8 stories. Going inside the sites adds time.

    Start and finish

    Starts at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 and ends at Buckner Mansion.

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    Questions people ask

    Can you walk the Garden District on your own?

    Yes. The streets are public and the houses are private homes, so you see them from the sidewalk. This walk plays a story at each of eight stops.

    How long does the tour take?

    About 54 minutes in all, walking 1.3 miles and listening to all eight stories.

    Can I go inside Lafayette Cemetery No. 1?

    The City of New Orleans closed Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 to visitors in 2019 for repairs. You can see it through the gates on Washington Avenue; check the city's site before you go.

    Where does the tour start and end?

    It starts at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 and ends at Buckner Mansion.

    What stops are on the tour?

    The stops are Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, Commander's Palace, Briggs-Staub House, Colonel Short's Villa, Brevard-Rice House, Payne-Strachan House, Toby's Corner and Buckner Mansion.

    Do I need the app?

    No. After you unlock, the tour plays right here in your browser: keep the screen on and tap each stop. The free Stories app adds GPS auto-play, so each story starts by itself when you arrive, with your phone in your pocket, and works offline.

    How many people can listen?

    One purchase covers your group on up to 4 phones. Share the link from your receipt, or everyone can sign in to the app with the same email.

    Does it work offline?

    In the app, yes: download the tour on Wi-Fi before you go. In the browser you need a signal, which is fine on most city streets; open the tour once before you leave.

    When can I start?

    Any time. It is self-guided, so there are no departure times and no group to keep up with. Pause for coffee and pick up where you left off.

    Can I give this tour as a gift?

    Yes. Tap "Give it as a gift", type their email and a note, and pick the day it arrives (Christmas morning works). They open it in their phone's browser; you get the receipt.

    Can I get a refund?

    Yes. If the tour did not work for you, email support@getstories.app within 7 days and we will refund it.

    Who made this tour?

    Stories writes each tour from public sources, checks every claim against them, and narrates it with a synthetic voice. The sources are listed at the end of this page; if you spot a mistake, tell us at support@getstories.app.

    About this tour and its sources

    You're standing at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. Look through the gate at the rows of whitewashed tombs, built above ground, lined up like a small city of their own. About 1,100 family tombs and some 7,000 people fit inside this single city block.

    They belong to a city that no longer exists. When this cemetery opened in 1833, you weren't in New Orleans at all. You were in the City of Lafayette, a separate town. New Orleans annexed it in 1852. The cemetery kept the name. The town did not.

    The houses around you were built in that same stretch of years, and each one tries to say something about its owner. Colonel Short, a man from Kentucky, had a cornstalk pattern cast into his iron fence. Henry Buckner, a cotton baron and slave-owner, wanted a house bigger and grander than his former partner's. Thomas Toby came from Philadelphia and built a Greek Revival house that is considered the oldest still standing in the Garden District. You'll see the columns, the fences, and the people behind them. Enslaved labor lies behind the wealth of men like Buckner, and that shadow falls across this whole district.

    Oak roots may lift the sidewalks, so watch your step, cross with care, and take your time.

    Written from public sources, every claim checked against them, narrated by a synthetic voice. Last checked October 2026.

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