The story behind of the "Superdome curse" has endured for years, despite the fact that it is really only partly true. The only part of the Superdome to sit on what was once the old cemetery are two of its parking garages. The rest of the cemetery was on land now occupied by Champions Square and the old New Orleans Centre shopping mall. (Also, never mind the fact that the Saints played like a cursed team even during their first eight years, when they were based out of Tulane Stadium.)
The Girod Street Cemetery was founded in 1822 as a resting place for the city's Protestants. Consequently, according to a 2014 column written for The Times-Picayune by Tulane Geographer Richard Campanella, it was widely known as "the Protestant Cemetery," although the city's mostly Catholic Creoles called it "Cimitere des Heretiques" -- or "the Heretics' Graveyard."
Curse of the New Orleans Saints
During the 135 years that it was in use, between 20,000 and 30,000 people were buried in the cemetery, which -- like most graveyards in soggy New Orleans -- featured above-ground tombs and vaults.
The cemetery was bounded by S. Liberty, Magnolia, Cypress and Perilliat streets and was on land that frequently flooded. With maintenance sorely lacking, it fell into disrepair and would become a target for looters and vandals.
By the 1950s, the cemetery was an overgrown -- and decidedly creepy -- eyesore. Under the administration of Mayor Chep Morrison, it was deconsecrated in January 1957, with the idea of redeveloping the land as part of the city's then-growing downtown area.