Dead Stop
Our summer road trip maps strange, funny, historic and notable gravesites across America. To nominate your favorite, write a comment — or use the hashtag #nprdeadstop on Twitter or Instagram.
Stop Here: Interactive Map
()A summer road trip visiting strange, funny, historic and notable gravesites and cemeteries across America.
'Gatsby' Author Fitzgerald Rests In A D.C. Suburb
()F. Scott Fitzgerald's family had roots in Maryland, and he's buried along a major commuter corridor.
A Resting Place For Hunting Hounds In Alabama
()In order to be buried in Alabama's Coon Dog Cemetery, a dog must have a proven hunting record.
On Remote Island, The Dead Are Buried Far And Wide()
August 28, 2012 With dense forests and rugged beauty, Grindstone Island is a favorite summer getaway for visitors — and some of them never want to leave. The island near the Canadian border has one official cemetery, but locals say that hundreds of people are buried there, in unofficial gravesites.
Deaths Tell The Story Of Life In Old Hong Kong()
August 21, 2012 The 8,000 graves of Happy Valley cemetery in Hong Kong tell the island's untold early history through the lives of pirates and prostitutes, missionaries and merchants. NPR correspondent Louisa Lim's mother devoted a decade to chronicling the last resting place of Hong Kong's earliest settlers.
How Congressional Cemetery Got Its Name()
August 17, 2012 Back at the turn of the 19th century, Uriah Tracey was something of a trendsetter. The Connecticut senator was one of the first to fight in the Revolutionary War — and then one of the first to try to secede. And when he died in 1807, he became one of Congressional Cemetery's first occupants.
A Wild Resting Place For Gunslingers And Cowboys()
August 14, 2012 Many residents of the Boot Hill cemetery in Tombstone, Ariz. — including gunfighters, miners, saloon keepers and train robbers — met untimely ends.
Uncovering Secrets Buried At A Neglected Cemetery()
August 9, 2012 ALPRLincoln Cemetery in Montgomery, Ala., was established in 1907 for African-Americans. But with no one in charge of the cemetery or keeping burial records, abuse, vandalism and neglect became rampant. And no one is sure where people are actually buried. Recently, volunteers began cleaning up and documenting the graves.
In Warhol's Memory, Soup Cans And Coke Bottles()
August 6, 2012 While the cemetery that houses the artist's grave is conventional, the grave site itself is anything but. Fans and admirers regularly leave colorful mementos on his tombstone outside of Pittsburgh, and a local artist and Warhol historian even holds graveside birthday parties for the late pop art con.
The Ghostly Grandeur Of A Desert Graveyard()
August 1, 2012 Some 60,000 people have been buried in El Paso's Concordia Cemetery. The Texas graveyard is the final home to gunslingers, Mormon pioneers, Chinese immigrants, Mexican revolutionaries and Civil War veterans. Its desert setting is a venue for a popular Day of the Dead festival and nightly ghost tours.
Rediscovered Headstones Hold Clues To Calif. Quake()
July 31, 2012 California's Gilliam Cemetery appears to have more occupants as of late, but it's not only because new bodies have been buried there. Instead, old headstones that were claimed by the earth a century ago have been resurrected.
A Muslim Cemetery Helps To Ease Funerals' Strain()
July 23, 2012 At the Garden of Peace cemetery in Flint, Michigan, Muslims are buried in accordance with traditional Islamic burial rites. After operating for only a couple of years, the cemetery has already welcomed a diverse group of American Muslims.
Looking For Lady Day's Resting Place? Detour Ahead()
July 17, 2012 When Billie Holiday died on July 17, 1959, thousands of mourners attended her funeral at St. Paul the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in New York City. But Holiday isn't buried in New York's Woodlawn Cemetery, near Duke Ellington and Miles Davis. Instead, she's "way, way, way out" in the Bronx.
A City's History Writ Small, In One Cemetery()
July 10, 2012 In St. Augustine, Fla., a historic cemetery is best known for a famous priest who's no longer buried there. The Tolomato Cemetery also reflects the city's long history, from Spanish rule to more recent times.
Beyond The Music In St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 ()
July 5, 2012 A New Orleans socialite donated space in her family's mausoleum in the city's famous St. Louis Cemetery No. 2. Now, the final resting place of a white, aristocratic family is also the eternal home of black musical royalty: Ernie "Emperor of the Universe" K-Doe and Earl King.
The Trainer Who Created Four-Legged Stars ()
July 27, 2012 Names like Gene Autry, Bette Davis and Buster Keaton draw tourists to a cemetery in the Hollywood Hills. But those legends of the silver screen also lie near a lesser-known man who made animals into Hollywood stars.
The Curious Fate Of Stonewall Jackson's Arm()
June 28, 2012 When Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by his own troops, his left arm was amputated and buried. But when the general died days later, he was not reunited with his lost limb.
In Alaskan Cemetery, Native And Orthodox Rites Mix()
June 25, 2012 In a part of America that was once claimed by imperial Russia, a unique combination of Native American and Russian Orthodox influences mingle in a graveyard. There, spirit houses are built to house the dead and ease their passage.
'Bill W.' Day Celebrates Alcoholics Anonymous Hero ()
June 11, 2012 Bill Wilson's simple grave in Vermont makes no mention of his work — co-founding Alcoholics Anonymous. But that doesn't stop people from visiting it, especially on the first Sunday in June. There, they celebrate Wilson, and his role in helping them change their lives.
How Dorothy Parker Came To Rest In Baltimore()
June 7, 2012 Dorothy Parker considered New York City to be her beloved hometown: It's where she grew up, where she wrote many darkly humorous poems and short stories, and where she became famous. But today, Parker's ashes can be found not in New York, but in Baltimore.
The Graveyard Of Shelved Ice Cream Flavors()
May 28, 2012 For our summer cemetery road trip series, we visit Ben and Jerry's "Flavor Graveyard" in Waterbury, Vt. Here, ice cream flavors that the company has killed off are memorialized. "You feel bad when the good ones just don't make it anymore," Ben and Jerry's Grand Poobah of Publicity, Sean Greenwood, tells host David Greene.
