[andrewem]

Perhaps they're special cases, but I've visited cemeteries of people who died in the 1600s and 1700s in Boston, Plymouth and Salem, Massachusetts. You'll find two cemeteries almost across the street from each other in Boston, right in the center of the city. They're tourist attractions, both for the now-obsolete grave decorations, and for some of the famous people who are buried or at least commemorated there. For instance, you can see markers for people who died in the Boston Massacre in 1770 in the Old Granary Burying Ground; needless to say, it's named for a building which used to stand nearby. King's Chapel Burying Ground, just down the street, has a bonus historical feature - a ventilation shaft for the subway, which I think dates to roughly 1900.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granary_Burying_Ground http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Chapel_Burying_Ground

[mhurron]

> Perhaps they're special cases

They are special cases. Very, very special. There is a 150 year old family cemetery a stones throw from my house. No one cares. A quarter mile from my last house there was another one. I drove past several on my way to work. NO ONE CARES. The number of old cemeteries that are of any interest is so minuscule compared to the number of cemeteries.

Cemeteries are a growth of the Christian idea that you're going to be resurrected one day and peoples general fear of dying and as long as someone knows where they are they're not really dead. They are a colossal waste of space.