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Nikki Tundel
St. Paul, Minn.

Graveyard shifts

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Cemetery
Cemeteries may hold the dead. But they're often reflections of the living. As Benjamin Franklin put it, "Show me your cemetery and I'll tell you who you are."
MPR Photo / Nikki Tundel

In some ways, wandering through a cemetery is like walking along a timeline.

Cemeteries evolved dramatically throughout history. And changes in graveyards often reflected changes in society.

Reporter Nikki Tundel explores the origins of our modern day resting places and takes a tour of a St. Paul cemetery to find out what it says about the city.

Gallery
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City of the silent
Cemeteries may hold the dead. But they're often reflections of the living. As Benjamin Franklin put it, "Show me your cemetery and I'll tell you who you are."
MPR Photo / Nikki Tundel
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Tombstone tour guide
Mary Benton Hummel gives walking tours of the cemeteries in Ramsey County. She can tell you all about the grave markers as well as the people buried under them.
MPR Photo / Nikki Tundel
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Matters of life and death
Older cemeteries often have mazes at the entrance. It was believed that ghosts could only travel in straight lines and so winding mazes were used to prevent the spirits of the deceased from returning to the community to harm the living.
MPR Photo / Nikki Tundel