Fleming Cemetery—also known as the Berthoud Cemetery—is built on a Native American mound. The mounds and middens were used to keep below-ground burials above the water table. Out this way, the water table makes it hard to keep the caskets below ground. In most instances, above-ground burials in Louisiana come from cultural tradition.
The Berthoud brothers started the cemetery in the 1890s at the top of the mound. The people of Barataria began burying their dead there, often bringing them to the inlet by boat. The tombs re-painted a brilliant white every All Saints Day.
Legend has it that both the pirate Lafitte and Napoleon Bonaparte were buried here, but it is unlikely and nearby cemeteries have similar claims. In 2014, it was a site in T.V. show True Detective.
