NEW ORLEANS - At the foot of Canal Street, where the streetcar line ends and the tourists get off to sightsee, visitors found a morbid, shocking sight at one New Orleans cemetery, as some tombs were open and skeletons visible to the naked eye.
Tombs and vaults damaged were a mixture of grave robbing, vandalism and old age.
Inside Odd Fellows Rest., a cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places, one man found an open vault in the whitewashed cemetery wall. Inside the vault, he could see an old, wooden casket broken into pieces and stacked to the side, and an entire skeleton lay exposed, with the skull looking out at visitors peering in. Dwayne said he was directed here by another visitor, someone not from New Orleans.
"When I looked in, I saw what appeared to be a human skull, and upon closer observation it was a human skull," said Dwayne, who did not want his last name used. "And at that point I became very disgusted, disappointed and shocked."
The cemetery is one of the city's celebrated cemeteries, dating back to 1849, and noted for the architecturally fascinating above ground tombs. Here one visits the gateway to another world, filled with ornate monuments, including rare cast iron tombs.
"A tourist actually stopped me and said, 'Wait until you get a load of what's on the end,'" Dwayne said.
The cemetery is owned by the Louisiana Lodge of the International Order of Odd Fellows, a benevolent society founded in 18th century England with the goal of improving world conditions by helping those in need.
But there is no Odd Fellows Lodge in New Orleans. When Dwayne reported the open vaults, a series of open graves, 16 in all, were found. In seven of those human bones were visible, or coffins, including one that was an example of the type of iron coffin used in burials a century ago.
It appeared some of the cement and brick walls could have collapsed due to age, but in other cases, they looked like they were knocked down.
"We find all kinds of, there's handles for caskets all over the yard here," said cemetery custodian, who gave his name as Den-A. "People have been breaking in here, they get what they want out of it, whatever it is, and then they just throw stuff about."
Den-A rents space for his business next to the cemetery from the Odd Fellows, and serves as custodian of the grave yard, but said his efforts to get the organization to seal the graves have not been successful.
"It's not really the tourists so much, it is the people who have loved ones that are still here that come in and go," said Den-A, who said he knew that there was an open tomb, but that he didn't have the authority to do anything about it.
Den-A said he has tried to keep intruders out, but often the most destructive break in at night, and damage the graves. He said the skull Dwayne saw was actually stolen at one point.
"Some young Goth people came into the cemetery. They left," Den-A said. "I walk the cemetery every day. I went there and the skull was gone. Three days later, it was back."
When members of the Louisiana Grand Lodge of the International Order of Odd Fellow were informed about the situation, they said they were shocked and they would take action immediately.
"100 percent determined to get it all fixed up like it is supposed to be," said Doretha Buteau, the Odd Fellows Louisiana Grand Master. "That way when we can come in and we can say we have a cemetery in New Orleans that everybody needs to see, we can be 100 percent proud of it, and not ashamed."
Within days of being contacted, the Odd Fellows had contacted cemetery repair expert Roy Osborne, who found yet another open vault on his first tour.
"I seen it, but they have a lot of remains in there, you see," Osborne said. Osborne is the third generation of his family to create the monuments, and preserve New Orleans historic cemeteries. Seeing evidence of vandalism infuriates him.
"That's low down. That's no blessing in none of that. That's a quick way to go to hell." Osborne promised the open tombs will at Odd Fellows Rest be well sealed.
"If they want to get into it," he said, "it would take a maul and a hammer, you see. I'm going to fix all of them where they can't break in them that easy."
"It's like taking part of you when they vandalize something that belongs to you and you are proud of," Doretha Buteau said. "It is like taking part of you and ripping you apart."
The Odd Fellows want to establish a New Orleans Lodge that could watch over this cemetery, and they are working on extra lighting and security, including using video cameras already installed.
Roy Osborne has spent a lifetime in the city's cemeteries, and understands not only their spiritual link to New Orleans residents, but also their historical importance.
"Oh it's a treasure, big treasure," Osborne said. "These tombs and all of this, this is art.
We should never abandon this type of tombs and all because they don't make this anymore. See, they have people come from all over the country to look at these things."
"I'm excited," Dwayne said. For Dwayne, the good news is that the next time he and others come to photograph this unique cemetery, they will be able to experience the peace of a place of rest.
