Holt is one of those places that tourists just don't get to, even though it's quite close.

It's actually under city, not diocese control, and the city certainly isn't about to start publicizing Holt as a wonderful place to spend an afternoon- even though it really is an amazing place, full of its own sort of beauty.

 Holt is the main pauper's cemetery in New Orleans (there is a smaller area of the larger Carrollton Cemetery, however). It costs almost nothing to be buried here, but to call the services 'minimal' would be generous.

You do not own the plot, and it will be reused...likely many times. The caretaker told me that every inch of the graveyard had been used at least 10 times in the course of his 30 years- the areas under the oaks are particularly prized and reused twice as often.

Despite the best efforts of SaveOurCemeteries cleanups and policing the area, it quickly falls into chaos- record keeping is almost nonexistent, and putting coffins (often cardboard boxes) directly into the earth in New Orleans is iffy at the best of times. I have never failed to see dozens of bones on visiting Holt- it rains, the water pushes things up and out, and it can be hard to contain. Because of this, many of the family members will construct their own boundary markers and weighing systems. Fencing, brick, PVC pipes, you name it, somebody's used it.

Markers are hand lettered, plastic flowers from Walmart stuck in the ground... you never quite know what you'll find.

And therein lies the paradox.

The first thing you notice is the poverty- there are almost no 'standard' headstones- but then you realize how much more personal the place is. They make a much more heartfelt statement, these graves. You get a sense of who their people are, how long they've been here. And a surprising number of them have been here a long, long time. I was bringing guests there one weekend when a long black limo pulled up, and a seemingly affluent family arrived. Theirs was a bit of ground the family had held for years, and although their fortunes had improved, they still consider Holt to be the family's final resting place.