This is the largest cemetery in
New Orleans and a showplace of cemetery architecture. The oval outline of the
Metairie Race Course, built in 1838, can still be seen in the cemetery today. The Civil War and reconstruction caused the race track to falter, and on May 25, 1872, the land was turned into a cemetery, owned by the Metairie Cemetery Association. Military memorials, the tomb of Gov. William C. Claiborne, first American governor of Louisiana, and graves of many leading families are there.
