Paved Paradise: Cemeteries In Parking Lots

While I was researching the "Cemetery Safari" chapter for my upcoming book Weird Oklahoma, I came across an unusual burial site west of Tulsa that was entirely enclosed within a strip-mall parking lot. Once sacred ground, it's now a conspicuous patch of grass in a sea of asphalt, a quirky spectacle to the shoppers forced to drive around it on their way to Radio Shack.

The handful of graves had become an absurd sight gag that punctuated the often indiscriminate momentum of American progress. And it got me thinking: were there others like it? Surely this wasn't the only time the deceased had stubbornly spoiled the aesthetics of a well-drafted parking lot. I mean, the good spots had already started going to the handicapped; it was only a matter of time before the dead horned in on the action, too.

And you know what? I was right. In fact, I found even more than I expected ...


Tullahassee Creek Indian Cemetery – Sand Springs, Oklahoma

Situated right between an ATM and a postal drop box, this Indian cemetery comprises about 1/4 acre of isolated turf in a parking lot outside Tulsa.

It was founded in 1883 and took less than a century to become the inadvertent centerpiece of a strip mall.

Read more about Tullahassee Creek Indian Cemetery in an exclusive Weird Oklahoma preview.


Burr Cemetery – Commack, New York

According to the Huntington (New York) Historical Society, the Burr family arrived from England in 1630, later establishing themselves on Long Island, where they purchased 166 acres of land and proceeded to become prominent, wealthy American citizens.

The Burr family farm once encompassed an area of Commack, New York, near the modern-day intersection of Lakefield Road and the Jericho Turnpike, where they, at some point, established a cemetery, which appears to have been used up until 1878.

During World War I, the land was turned into Brindley Field, a 90-acre training facility for pilots. The airfield was deactivated in 1919. Then, around the 1950s, Modell's Sporting Goods built themselves a franchise nearby, swallowing up the cemetery in the process. Today, the cemetery lies just outside the doors of the local Home Depot.


Bettis Family Cemetery – Memphis, Tennessee

In 1819, Tillman Bettis and his family settled in what would later become Memphis, the second family to do so after the Chickasaw Nation ceded the land to the U.S. government. In 1826, his wife, Sally Carr Bettis, died during childbirth and was buried in what is believed to be the first marked grave in Shelby County.

In the decades that followed, modern Memphis swallowed up the Bettis homestead, eventually cramming the family cemetery amid the Center City Shopping Center. The graveyard was enclosed by a three-foot-tall wall and, according to the Memphis Business Journal, became filled with graffiti, drug paraphernalia "and worse."

Locals looked into the possibility of moving the graves, but doing so would have cost at least $35,000, and nobody had the money. So, when The Home Depot bought the property in 2002 — that's right, another cemetery next to a Home Depot — they vowed to clean up the cemetery and look after it once they built their new outlet. The cemetery now lies right behind the new Home Depot, butted up against the neighboring Piggly Wiggly.


The Grave of Mary Ellis – New Brunswick, New Jersey

Not only is the grave of Mary Ellis embedded in a parking lot, it's also the focus of a terrific legend. Mary, who came to New Brunswick in the 1790s to live with her sister, fell in love with a sea captain who promised to marry her once he returned from his next voyage. The captain then left Mary his horse and sailed off down the Raritan River.

Every day, Mary rode her lover's steed down to the river, hoping to meet him at the water's edge. For years, she gazed at the river, waiting for his return. In 1813, she purchased a plot of land overlooking the river, where she maintained her vigil until her death in 1826. And there she was buried, forever waiting for her captain.

Meanwhile, commercialism swept through, establishing a series of retail businesses, including a popular flea market, all sharing space with Mary. Today, Mary's grave is entrenched in the parking lot of a Lowes movie theater.

In 2004, the property was purchased by a retail developer who plans to renovate the location with new retail space, parking garages and hundreds of luxury condos. He hopes to move Mary's grave out of his way and closer to the river.

Read more about Mary Ellis's grave from my friends at Weird N.J.


Mystery Cemetery – Warner Robins, Georgia

Little information exists regarding this cemetery. Long forgotten, it was discovered in 2005 listed on some old plats by an archaeologist who was researching the site for a commercial developer.

The cemetery, abandoned and unmarked, sat right where Wal-Mart had planned to erect a brand new Supercenter. But, since state law didn't prohibit developing around cemeteries, so long as the graves are preserved, they just worked around it. A retaining wall was installed, the land was regraded and the surrounding surface was paved and striped.


Crowley Mausoleum – Decatur, Georgia

According to a member of the RootsWeb community, James Crowley received about 500 acres of land in the Georgia Land Lottery of 1822, where he built a home for himself and his family. When he died in 1828, he was buried on a hill just north of his home where he was later joined by six other adults and four children.

The homestead changed hands a number of times over the years and was eventually leased to a developer in the 1960s, who built a mall on the property. Unfortunately, to make a parking lot possible, the hill on which the cemetery stood had to be leveled, so the developer made the unusual decision to leave the graves at their original elevation, build a wall around them about 20 feet high and remove the surrounding earth. As a result, the only way to access the cemetery is through a locked gate and up a stairway. No one's sure who now has the keys.

The mall closed in 2001 and was demolished a few years later to make way for another Wal-Mart and a few satellite stores. Developers kindly added a grassy buffer around the mausoleum, but it still lies in the middle of a parking lot, right behind a NAPA Auto Parts.

See more photos of the Crowley Mausoleum at Karen Dean's site.

102 Comments

Oct. 22, 2008 | 9:59 am
Dayna wrote:

There is a family cemetary at Yorktown Mall in Lombard IL, it is in the parking lot, and is well maintained. i'm not sure who the family is, but it does have more recent graves it it. I believe that the most recent grave is from the 50's or 60's

Dec. 10, 2008 | 8:36 am
Keith replied:

Wow Dayna, funny thing is I lived not 15 minutes away from yorktown mall (on finely road), and I was JUST about to comment on that exact same cemetery. I am currently reading this webpage from Japan. Small world huh?

Jan. 28, 2009 | 7:27 pm
Jacqueline replied:

I was just thinking, "Isn't there a cemetery at Yorktown mall?" I'm new to the area, and I'm glad that I'm not the only one that noticed it!

Jan. 29, 2009 | 12:17 pm
Xyval replied:

I believe the cemetery is Boeger. I'm not positive on the spelling, but it matches the name of a street off the same stretch of road a couple miles east in Westchester.

Jan. 29, 2009 | 12:58 pm
newtube@gmail replied:

wow, i just saw this on boingboing. am reading this from nyc but grew up in lombard and was just about to write about the yorktown mall. small world indeed!

Feb. 2, 2009 | 12:18 pm
Chris replied:

Hey, did you know that there is a cemetery at the Yorktown Mall too. Amazing.

Dec. 19, 2009 | 11:37 pm
Alex replied:

I have lived in Glen Ellyn my entire life and have never noticed/heard of this cemetary at Yorktown! I'll have to check it out.

Mar. 1, 2010 | 11:38 am
Matt Hucke replied:

photos of Boeger Cemetery, Yorktown mall parking lot, are here: http://graveyards.com/graveyard/?id=247

May. 23, 2010 | 1:30 pm
april peterman replied:

I am a member of one fo the families that owns that cemetary in the yorktown parking lot. My great uncle was the last one to be buried there along with my great grandmother in the late 80's.

Oct. 23, 2008 | 9:43 am
Anonymous Guest wrote:

There is a cemetery in the parking lot of a motel in Fort Worth, Texas. I believe its a Holiday Inn- one of those with multiple buildings surrounding a parking lot on three sides. Right in the middle of the parking lot is a tiny cemetery. There was a historical marker there saying that much of the area was originally used as a cemetery, but I guess for some reason just this small patch was preserved. So, not only does your room overlook a cemetery, it was probably built on one, too. Nice.

Oct. 23, 2008 | 9:47 am
Anonymous Guest wrote:

Found the one in Fort Worth: Ayres Cemetery, 2500 Block of Scott Street. Completely surrounded by a motel parking lot.

Oct. 23, 2008 | 11:37 am
Anonymous Guest wrote:

Here is a link to google satellite map of the Yorktown Mall parking lot cemetery.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=y...

Oct. 23, 2008 | 9:41 pm
Sarabi wrote:

There is one in Gainesville Virginia. I believe it's right infront of a liquor store and a Giant grocery store.

Oct. 24, 2008 | 3:47 am
Wesley Treat wrote:

Thanks for the tips, guys! I'll do some research and try to add them to the list soon.

Oct. 24, 2008 | 10:04 am
Brad Spry wrote:

Cemetary at the mall, Carolina Mall, Concord, NC:
Google Map: http://tinyurl.com/5zpemp

Oct. 24, 2008 | 3:41 pm
Katie wrote:

How strange.....I grew up in NY in the town next to Commack and just recently moved to New Brunswick, NJ. AND, I've never noticed either of these graves...

Oct. 24, 2008 | 5:56 pm
Anonymous Guest wrote:

There's one in front of the Cinemark in Mansfield, TX. http://tinyurl.com/5jfn78

Dec. 1, 2008 | 7:42 am
Anonymous Guest wrote:

Theres one near the woodbury commons mall in upstate NY. http://is.gd/9Iq4

Dec. 1, 2008 | 9:17 am
Jason Phillips wrote:

The Yorktown Mall in IL link above seems to be incomplete - here's the lat/long coordinates 41.837460, -88.006006

Dec. 1, 2008 | 12:01 pm
Wesley Treat replied:

Seems it was actually an incorrect setting that was truncating the URL. Fixed now.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

Dec. 1, 2008 | 9:45 am
aturoff wrote:

There's one at the Palisades Mall in West Nyack.

(Blurred) Google Maps link: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41.096341,-73.9...

Dec. 1, 2008 | 10:02 am
Maven wrote:

Gash Cemetery, located at Metro North Mall, Kansas City, MO.
More info: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~moclay/gash.htm

Dec. 1, 2008 | 1:03 pm
Anonymous Guest wrote:

There is a plot hidden among some trees on the edge of a strip mall center along Route 157 in Edwardsville, IL. For a long time the plot was left in the open. Only after he'd finished his mall the developer put a nice white fence around the cememtery.

Dec. 1, 2008 | 3:01 pm
Robert wrote:

Georgia seems to home to a lot of these, including the Henderson Family Cemetery, Lilburn, GA.

Dec. 2, 2008 | 9:57 pm
Laura wrote:

There’s one here, too - next to Chik-fil-A. We call it Corpse-fil-A. It's in Aurora, CO, off Parker Road and Orchard Road.

Dec. 6, 2008 | 6:06 am
Mike replied:

I've driven by that many times too, Laura. It's Melvin-Lewis Cemetery. Here it is on Google Maps:
http://tinyurl.com/5ur3k2

There's some information on it here:
http://www.cherrycreekvalleyhistoricalsociety.org/...

Here's a link with pictures and more information:
http://denver.yourhub.com/Aurora/Stories/Goings-on...

Apparently, old pioneer graves from the Melvin and Lewis families are there along with cremated remains of over 1,600 people who donated their bodies to science circa 1888-1910. Many of the markers or headstones have been stolen over the years.

Dec. 8, 2008 | 10:13 am
Gravemappers wrote:

Check out the new website - www.namesinstone.com. You can create online interactive cemetery maps. It would be great to get these small cemeteries mapped so their records are preserved and people can research them. You can read more about it at the blog - www.gravemappers.blogspot.com. Let us know if you can help!

Dec. 8, 2008 | 7:46 pm
Ian Millard wrote:

To rest in a parking lot is bad enough, but here's a location that could wake the dead.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=4...

This cemetery is at the junction of Hwy .427, and the busiest highway in North America, the 401, at the north-western edge of Toronto.
I wonder how many people drive by (at 70 mph) and never notice it.

Dec. 10, 2008 | 12:37 pm
Bill Morgan replied:

There's a similar small family plot in the middle of a highway exchange in Austin, TX

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=A...

Dec. 10, 2008 | 10:07 am
Anonymous Guest wrote:

There is a small one behind a strip mall in Monroe, Michigan (not sure of address. Boundries are S. Monroe St. to the East, Harrison to the West, Merkle to the South and W. 8th St. to the North). I worked at a bookstore there when I was a teen and didn't even know it was there until I looked over a fairly high wall and was surprised to see headstones!

Dec. 13, 2008 | 1:05 pm
Anonymous Guest wrote:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=2...

here is a google maps link to a cemetery on US-17 INBETWEEN lanes entering a Walmart Plaza, next to Hardees in Summerville, SC.

Dec. 15, 2008 | 9:10 am
Anonymous Guest wrote:

there is one in Fairfax/Vienna, VA as well at the corner of Lee Hwy and Nutley St. There is a Safeway and a Starbucks, really a whole strip mall thee. I thought it was odd until I found this site. I guess it's more common than I thought!

Dec. 15, 2008 | 7:41 pm
Anonymous Guest replied:

I was just going to mention the one by the Starbucks in Vienna. I keep meaning to take a picture of it. A grave next to a strip mall with a confederate flag in front of it.

Jan. 28, 2009 | 4:06 pm
Adam replied:

Here it is, http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=38.872092,-77.2.... You can see the two tombstones still standing at the upper left corner of the cemetery. I don't know, but I believe the land around here was originally owned by a family by the name of Thompson. For all I know, this could be the Thompson Family Cemetery from the 1800s.

Feb. 10, 2009 | 3:54 pm
Fairfax Library replied:

It is the Thompson Cemetery. For further information contact the Virginia Room at City of Fairfax Regional Library. www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/vr or
http://gyrabbitnova.blogspot.com/2009/01/thompson-...

Dec. 16, 2008 | 9:15 pm
Aaron wrote:

Wow, I live about a mile from the cemetery next to the piggly wiggly in Memphis, TN, and I never knew it was there...
It's not really in a great area though...

Dec. 22, 2008 | 12:19 pm
Anonymous Guest wrote:

There is one at the Carolina Mall in Concord, NC, right up against the mall walls. They couldn't take it out when building the mall, so just worked it into a remote corner...its very odd.

Dec. 24, 2008 | 12:52 am
Anonymous Guest wrote:

Louisville, Kentucky near a McDonald's and a Hobby Lobby:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=l...

Dec. 1, 2010 | 3:11 pm
anon replied:

I think this is a more accurate maps link. There actually is a geocache at this location as well. Which is how i initially found out about the cemetary. Dutchmans Ln, Louisville, KY 40205
http://m.google.com/u/m/zGAKUj

Dec. 24, 2008 | 12:21 pm
Anonymous Guest wrote:

Another one near Oviedo, Spain. Parking of Parque Principado Mall.
http://maps.google.es/maps?f=q&hl=es&geocode=&q=pa...

Dec. 29, 2008 | 1:27 pm
Anonymous Guest wrote:

There is a Cemetery Here in Atlanta,Ga. in a Gas Station parking lot at The Exit Ramp of Interstate 20 east and Martin L. King Dr. Seems to be well maintained and an iron fence around it. I do not have a lot of info on it but it seems so of the graves date back to the late 1700's

Jan. 28, 2009 | 2:33 pm
anonymous replied:

And there is another small one in Atlanta just inside I-285 on LaVista Road (it borders the Best Buy parking lot)

Jan. 29, 2009 | 3:34 pm
Lavista Rd. Cemetary replied:
Jul. 31, 2009 | 4:00 pm
xpkranger replied:

I took a photo of this one recently.
[img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2460/3760440594_0109554160.jpg[/img]

www.flickr.com/xpkranger

Jan. 28, 2009 | 12:56 pm
Lynn wrote:

There's one in Middleburg Heights, OH off of East Bagley Rd in the parking lot of a strip mall/movie theater/apartment parking lot. There were a lot of residents unhappy about it. http://www.fandango.com/mapquest/default.aspx?cate...

Mar. 26, 2009 | 12:04 am
Bex replied:

I was about to add that very cemetery. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41.374289,-81.8...

Jan. 28, 2009 | 12:56 pm
Anonymous wrote:

One in Fairfax, VA next to Pan Am shopping center:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/vr/c...

Jan. 28, 2009 | 1:03 pm
Mrdubyah wrote:

Don't miss the Austin Family cemetery in Smithfield, RI. It's not quite surrounded by parking lot (only three sides) but it's about 50' higher than the parking lot and has stairs leading up the rip-rap slope. It has a great view of the back sides of the Department stores and their scenic dumpsters! View it at: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&g...

Jan. 28, 2009 | 1:06 pm
Stephanie wrote:

There is a small family plot located in the parking lot of Potomac Mills Mall in Woodbridge, VA.

View Larger Map

The cemetery is at the bottom center of the picture on a small triangle of grass to the right of the Mall and just to the left of Telegraph Rd and the Ikea.

Jan. 28, 2009 | 1:10 pm
Charlie Nolan wrote:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.84...

Here is another one in Commack NY in a Home Depo parking lot..

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2FF

Long Description:

In 1851 the Burr cemetery was originally located in-between farm fields, maybe in a small grove of trees, and seems to have stopped being used by 1878. When the Army came in 1918 they cleared three farms and built Brindley Field. The cemetery then sat in the middle of a runway with a small white fence around it. After the war, the cemetery was again surrounded by cabbage, potato, and wheat fields. By the 1950's, Modell's was built and the old cemetery was then surrounded by a parking lot.

The Burr Family

The Burr family first arrived in America from England in 1630. They arrived on Long Island in 1656, first in Hempstead and shortly thereafter in Commack where they purchased 166 acres of land. The Burrs thrived in Commack becoming quite wealthy. At one time the family farm encompassed what is now the Home Depot shopping center on the corner of Larkfield Road and Jericho Turnpike. A mid-nineteenth-century Burr family cemetery still sits in the parking lot of that shopping center.
In the nineteenth century, Smith Burr (1803-1887) operated a hotel on the northwest corner of Burr Road and Townline Road. Smith Burr also bred harness horses – including Lady Suffolk, considered the most famous Long Island racehorse. Lady Suffolk, who was owned by David Bryant (who was Burr’s neighbor), competed in 162 races in seventeen states from 1838 to 1853 setting several records.
Smith Burr’s son, Carll S. Burr (1831-1916), continued the family horse breeding business. Following his marriage in 1857, he purchased a farm and opened a training school to develop trotting horses. He built a half-mile track behind his house on Burr Road. The school became quite well known and kept as many as 100 horses at the same time for training, breeding, or racing. Carll Burr was active in the Republican Party and was an Elector in the Electoral College in 1880 and 1888.
Carll Burr enlarged his father’s small house, which had originally been built in 1832. Although Burr first enlarged the house shortly after his marriage, his growing wealth and prominence led him in 1881 to greatly expand the house and remodel it in the then-popular French Second Empire style. The result is an imposing two and one-half story residence with a mansard roof.
His son, Carll S. Burr, Jr., joined the family business and was also elected to the State Assembly and Senate. Carll Burr, Sr. and Carll Burr, Jr. built Suffolk County’s only one-mile race track on the east side of Commack Road where Commack North High School now stands. The heyday of the track ended by 1916, but it continued to be used for amateur races through the 1930s.
Carll S. Burr, III established a successful real estate business in town, which was continued by his son. The family home remained in the Burr family until the end of the twentieth century.

Adapted from Commack: A Look Into The Past, by Lucille Rosen (Commack School District, 1970)

Brindley Field

An undated postcard of a Jenny biplane
in front of hangars at “Brindley Flying Field”.

During World War I, June 1918, an aviation camp, Brindley Field, was set up on the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Larkfield Road. It became the home of the 211th Aero Squadron for advanced airplane training. The base was deactivated in May, 1919. The field after Major Brindley, a famous pilot who had recently died.
Originally the camp was to be named Chapman Field after Lt. Col. C. G. Chapman who died while fighting in France. The name was then changed just before it opened to Brindley Field in memory of Major Oscar A. Brindley who had just died testing a new plane and was considered at the time to be one of the best pilots.
The field itself consisted of ninety acres of land, with the buildings, and barns, one large barn, and several other storage barns of a smaller size, and other out buildings. And a main house which they immediately established as a headquarters for the field.
In August of 1918 they built five big steel hangers, the nearest one was about one hundred and fifty feet from Larkfield Ave. They stood in a line behind the original hay barn that had been used to hold airplane parts at that time. They were for what we called Jenny planes at the time.
The field was a satellite of Mitchell Field in Mineola, and was the last training field for flyers before they went to France. Here they trained on Jennys, equipped with the DH-4, with the most powerful engine at the time.
They had dog fights in their training over the field and surrounding areas. One of the most serious accidents happened while they were having dog fights over the Havemeyer property east of Townline Road. Two pilots were killed when their plane crashed into the ground after loosing control.
First Name: Not listed

Last Name: Not listed

Jan. 28, 2009 | 1:15 pm
Dayna D wrote:

Very interesting. There's also one in Kerrville, Texas, between Wal-Mart and Discount Tire, although it's slightly less tacky than most of the ones you've documented.

Jan. 28, 2009 | 1:50 pm
Bryan wrote:

I'm pretty sure this spot on the edge of Windward Mall's parking lot in Kaneohe, Hawai'i is an old graveyard.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&g...

Jan. 28, 2009 | 1:52 pm
catalina wrote:

Can't let this pass without a shoutout to the old cemetery a few miles from my hometown... I don't know the name, but I remember that it was hidden from the main road by surrounding trees until they began building the shopping strip that is there now. The bodies now rest perhaps 100 feet from the Regal Cinemas at 18348 Bagley Rd, Middleburg Heights, OH 44130, USA. A paved road next to the property is named Hepburn Road, and I've seen online records identifying it as Hepburn family cemetery. It was very small, and I recall that it had gravestones dating back to the first half of the 1800s.

Jan. 28, 2009 | 1:56 pm
B wrote:

Oh, you definitely gotta check out the paved-over cemetery hidden at Colonial Mall in the NW parking lot (Greenville, NC). No good google maps tho' unfortunately: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&g...

Jan. 28, 2009 | 2:05 pm
stosh wrote:

havent been back to chicago for a while to check on the status but, there was a mausoleum behind the chicago historical society bldg. in lincoln park ...it was kept from the immediate view of the public by an impenetrable shield of hedge inter-grown thru chain-link fence ...i recall the family name being 'couch' ...i suppose its much more likely to find graves in public parks than parking lots tho

Jan. 28, 2009 | 2:13 pm
Pasq242 wrote:

Pan Am Shopping Center, Vienna, VA. It's the large square in the middle of the map; you can make out two headstones. Interestingly, one of them is always decorated with a confederate flag.
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=38.872245,-...

Here's the information from Fairfax County's website:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/vr/c...

Jan. 28, 2009 | 3:00 pm
Milam Command wrote:

The green patch in this satellite image is is a gravesite with Confederate war veterans buried there. There is a plaque commemorating them. It's in the middle of the Houston Fire Department headquarters complex.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1205+Dart,+houston,+...

Jan. 28, 2009 | 3:09 pm
kiawe wrote:

There is a small cemetary in the back parking lot of the Windward Mall on Oahu, with a big monkeypod tree in the middle. When they did the mall revamp about 3 years ago, they installed a parking structure right next to the cemetary. You can probably look right down onto the graves from the top deck.

Jan. 28, 2009 | 3:39 pm
Jenn wrote:

There is a cemetery in the Palisades Center mall, 1000 Palisades Center Drive West Nyack, NY 10994. The worst part about this cemetery is that they are Civil War veterans. Infuriating. I took photos of the graves with a gleaming Target sign in the background. I'd love for you to add this to your list.

Jan. 28, 2009 | 5:20 pm
Mike wrote:

That is sick. I can't believe someone would be so disrespectful to build a car park around someone's grave. I guess there is just one thing I'll never understand about Americans.

Jan. 28, 2009 | 7:27 pm
Larissa replied:

"Another one near Oviedo, Spain. Parking of Parque Principado Mall.
http://maps.google.es/maps?f=q&hl=es&geocode=&q=pa..."

As you can see from another post that I've quoted above, this practice is not limited to US soil. You'll also note that this website is a US tourism website and would not typically contain foreign examples due to relevancy.

Jan. 28, 2009 | 5:24 pm
Spark wrote:

Not exactly in the parking lot, but behind a Toys 'R' Us and a Staples in Richmond is a large cemetery. The only way in is through the TRU parking lot:
http://maps.live.com/#JnE9eXAuODc1NitRdWlvY2Nhc2lu...

Mar. 3, 2009 | 8:50 pm
Donna replied:

Do you know the name of the cemetery in Richmond? This is really odd. I want to check it out this week.

Jan. 28, 2009 | 7:23 pm
Larissa wrote:

I know this list is US based graveyards, but I recently learned that Hitler's Führerbunker (where he killed himself and then his ashes were laid) is located right next to a parking lot in Berlin. The parking lot number system skips the number where Hitler's body was buried (it might be 30 for the day he died) and instead there is a tree planted in the grass.

Aug. 25, 2010 | 9:47 am
german replied:

too bad his body was never found...

Jan. 28, 2009 | 8:01 pm
James B wrote:

I remember the Crowley place in Decatur from when I was a little kid, and that was a nice mall (1974). I always thought the graves were at ground level. Very interesting collection of info.

Jan. 28, 2009 | 8:39 pm
Steam McQueen wrote:

I seem to recall that there is an old family cemetery in -or near- a Firestone tire store in West Houston Texas. Don't have an exact location but I do remember seeing it about 20 years ago.

Feb. 9, 2009 | 11:10 am
Joseph Dorsey replied:

This is the Hillendahl Family Cemetery at the corner of Long Point Road and Hillendahl Road, west of the city in an area called Spring Branch. This family was part of the original settlers of Spring Branch. There are still descendants of this family around. There was an article in The Houston Chronicle several years ago about two sisters that were part of the family. They were in their nineties. The cemetery is still maintained. There were lots of German families who settled this area in the 1800’2 and their family names are found on a lot of streets and roads.

Apr. 25, 2009 | 3:33 pm
Scott L replied:

It is actually at the corner of Long Point and Pech Road.

Jan. 28, 2009 | 10:21 pm
Rich wrote:

There is a cemetery next to the Buffalo Bills stadium.
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&...

Jan. 28, 2009 | 11:09 pm
jbgreer wrote:

The geocaching community in Memphis, TN has twice cleaned the Bettis cemetery plot area, but as mentioned, trash tends to accumulate in the area.

There are a couple of other locations that fit your criteria in the surrounding area. I'll try to scout them out and return with info.

Jan. 29, 2009 | 12:45 am
Johnny wrote:

In Middletown, RI, next to the Aquidneck Shopping Center, a verrry old cemetary:

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&...

Jan. 29, 2009 | 12:34 pm
Anonymous wrote:

And one in Swansea, MA right next to a strip mall adjacent to US Rte 6 and the Slade's Ferry Bridge where some Slades are buried dating back to the early 1700's.

Jan. 29, 2009 | 12:37 pm
Joseph C. Krause wrote:

I recall there's a small Jewish cemetery located within the Hamtamck-GM Assembly plant that spans one square mile between Detroit and the city of Hamtramck.

Jan. 29, 2009 | 9:33 pm
Anonymous wrote:

There is one at a mall in Raleigh , NC

Jan. 30, 2009 | 8:39 pm
Miles Archer wrote:

At least in San Francisco, we had the sense to move all the cemeteries to Colma in the 1920 and 1930s to avoid this weirdness

Jan. 31, 2009 | 7:17 pm
haelduksf wrote:

There's a neat one in the parking lot of Bridlewood Mall, in Toronto. I used to chain my bike to the fence all the time as a kid.

Feb. 2, 2009 | 12:24 pm
Ann wrote:

There are markers in a median in the Boeing Field parking lot south of Seattle, but they may be cenotaphs, rather than actual graves.

Feb. 2, 2009 | 3:27 pm
Jay Blossom wrote:

Here's one surrounded by a parking lot at Duke University: http://tinyurl.com/awhtzq

Feb. 2, 2009 | 3:40 pm
Paul K. Graham wrote:

The Crowley "Mausoleum" is not actually a mausoleum, as you note in your description. It is actually a cemetery surrounded by a large retaining wall. Most people around here do not realize that the graves are actually up on top -- they think it is a building (hence mausoleum) that you can go into. There is a great series of photos at http://ibssg.org/crowley/avondale.htm.

It would be a big favor to history for you to provide an update to the information you have about the cemetery to note that the land lottery in question was in 1821 (not 1822) and that James Crowley did not win any land in it. He probably purchased the land shortly after the lottery. The story posted on Rootsweb unfortunately has a lot of made up stuff.

Feb. 5, 2009 | 2:24 pm
Jcorn wrote:

This is so sad. I'd be devastated to visit my grandparents in the middle of a Home Depot parking lot. There must be karma for developing in this way.....

Feb. 6, 2009 | 7:47 am
Allen Johannes wrote:

Not in parking lot - But, Melvin Cemetery in Clearwater Resort and Campground at White Lake, near Elizabethtown, NC. The property had once belonged to the Melvin family before becoming a resort/campground.

Feb. 6, 2009 | 8:21 am
Richard K Ellington wrote:

There is a small cemetery in the parking lot of the Verge apartments between Durham and Chapel Hill, NC. The developer may a "good faith" effort to preserve it by building a fence around the plots and maintaining the grounds.

There is also a small cemetery plot in Carrboro, NC that is located beside a large storage building for the Orange Water and Sewer Authority. The authority maintains the site. website: http://cemeterycensus.com/nc/orng/cem117.htm

Feb. 6, 2009 | 9:11 am
silverCity wrote:

There is a quaker cemetery, Charleston,SC with a parking garage built on it, there is a plate indicating it was a cemetery. Seems most of these asphalt cemeteries are in the south!

Feb. 6, 2009 | 10:34 am
Marilyn Burgess wrote:

Funtown was given a permit by the town of Saco, Maine to build an amusement ride over a cemetery.

Feb. 6, 2009 | 7:22 pm
Audrey wrote:

There is a family cemetery in a parking lot in Houston on Long Point Road and one on a grassy area dividing Hwy 59 north of Houston.

Feb. 8, 2009 | 3:27 am
Carolyn wrote:

I have been looking for the Hall Family Cemetery in North Augusta, SC in the Summer Hill area. If anyone finds it in a parking lot or someone's back yard give a shout. elasrof476@yahoo.com

The Burr Cemetery in Commack, NY...well I must have walked into that Home Depot 1000+ times and never knew it was there. I have to start noticing things like this.

Feb. 10, 2009 | 10:41 am
Darlene wrote:

As one who believes in ressurection day, I had to smile. Can you imagine what it will be like on Ressurection Day as all those graves are opened?

Feb. 17, 2009 | 10:10 pm
Susan Morris wrote:

If it were me in one of those graves near a Walmart, I would be rolling. I have a hard time swallowing the degradation of allowing commercial property to line up against a graveyard.

Feb. 23, 2009 | 8:12 pm
Anonymous ex-Long Islander wrote:

I grew up within walking distance of the Commack, New York, parking lot cemetery. The cemetery was encompassed Brindley Field until the late 1980s-then Modell's, Home Depot, Staples, Old Navy, etc. took over. In the 1980s (and probably earlier) the field was not open to the public, so I had no idea some of town's founders were buried in there until after the parking lot was built. Perhaps other residents didn't know either since I don't seem to remember anyone protesting the decision to surround the Burrs with asphalt (but I would've been too young to remember really). I've since moved away to Massachusetts, but I often tell people about that cemetery as a way of conveying how depressing and shallow much of Long Island is now.

Mar. 3, 2009 | 8:56 pm
Donna replied:

Also an ex-Long Islander-- must agree with you on the shallowness of LI but apparently there's a bit of shallow across the country-- not looking so hot for death, on Long Island nor anywhere else!

Feb. 26, 2009 | 11:53 pm
Gary R. Belding wrote:

I can trace my Scarlett Family back to North Carolina. However, part of the Family moved to Cookeville, Tennessee. At the intersection of Buffalo Valley Road & CC Camp Road, one would turn south into a residential track of homes. In the middle of the road (CC Camp Road) part of the Scarlett Family rests. The road is designed the go around the plots entering or leaving the track of homes.

Jul. 24, 2009 | 3:15 am
chris wrote:

There are 2 graves right next to the parking lot of pan am shopping center in fairfax VA,and it is a seriously built up area

Jul. 27, 2009 | 9:35 pm
Greg Johnson wrote:

I thought I was the only one who paid attention to these things.

Just south of Atlanta Georgia, there's a cemetery at the intersection of Cleveland Ave and I-75... It's inside the clover leaf for the south bound on-ramp!

There's also a very small cemetery behind the Walgreen's drug store on Atlanta Hwy in Loganville, GA

...Strange

Jul. 29, 2009 | 3:44 pm
Geoff wrote:

That explains why zombies always target malls

Jul. 29, 2009 | 5:27 pm
Wesley Treat replied:

Geoff, you are officially invited to participate at Junk Shop Photos.

Jan. 23, 2011 | 12:29 pm
CWT wrote:

Linwood Cemetery in Prairie Village, KS is at busy 95th/Nall between the post office and a strip mall.

Jan. 23, 2011 | 8:32 pm
Angel wrote:

The Starkey Family Cemetery is located at the Walmart in Kerrville, Tx.

Oct. 9, 2011 | 7:04 am
Kelly replied:

My son works near the Yorktown Mall cemetery and found this site when I told him to google it to see if the rumor was true. Interestingly, my mom lives right next door to the Kerville Walmart so I can't wait to check that one out!

Apr. 22, 2011 | 7:48 pm
Mundon wrote:

There was one by the Petsmart in Centennial, CO
http://www.cherrycreekvalleyhistoricalsociety.org/...

Mar. 25, 2014 | 1:50 pm
Mayra Santos wrote:

There is a Cemetery right down the street from me,a couple of years ago a washateria was built & the parking lot now surrounds the cemetery...how sad..located in Richmond,tx on Collins Rd.

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