Metairie Cemetery was entered in the National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 1991. It was given this honor in recognition of its stature as the burial place of many famous people and the home to breathtaking aboveground family mausoleums, tombs and monuments. These magnificent memorials, made of marble, granite and brick, testify to the dignity and significance of all those who are buried there.

The grounds of Metairie Cemetery originally held a race track that was quite popular in its heyday. The oval outline of the Metairie Race Course, built in 1838, can still be seen in the cemetery today. But the ravages of the Civil War and Reconstruction caused the race track to falter and on May 25, 1872, the land was converted into a cemetery, owned by the Metairie Cemetery Association.

In 2003, Metairie Cemetery was named by Forbes.com as one of the ten best cemeteries due to its unique historical significance and beauty.
Metairie Cemetery is the final resting place of numerous famous and revered people, including nine governors of the state of Louisiana; seven mayors of New Orleans; and three Confederate generals—including P.G.T. Beauregard and Richard "Dick" Taylor, son of U.S. President Zachary Taylor. Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederate States of America, was entombed here temporarily after his death in New Orleans in 1889. Louis Prima, the world-famous singer and entertainer, is also buried here.