On the page devoted to the story of the old Yellow Fever Mortuary Chapel, I described how the chapel came to be constructed during the early periods of the Yellow Fever epidemics. Until then, the only church in the city had been St. Louis Church (now Cathedral) and funeral processions beginning at the church wound their way through the streets of the French Quarter to St. Louis No. 1 Cemetery on Rampart Street.
Fearing that the many Yellow Fever funerals conducted in the church - and then the funeral processions through the streets to the cemetery - may contaminate the building and spread the disease, city leaders declared it illegal to hold funerals for Yellow Fever victims in St. Louis Church. Immediately, plans for a mortuary chapel near the cemetery were commenced and, in 1827, the old Yellow Fever Mortuary Chapel was completed on the corner of Rampart and Conti Streets.
When Donna Vrooman shared the aerial view of a portion of the French Quarter below, I thought it would be a good visual for the story of the Mortuary Chapel. I've noted the locations of St. Louis Cathedral, the Mortuary Chapel and St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, so that it's easier to see the distances between them.
Below the aerial view, I've also included a street map with the locations marked. |
