Cemetery in Parking Lots

There’s a spot in a Lowes movie theater parking lot in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where you’ll never forget where you parked your car: the grave of Mary Ellis. Yes, a cemetery right smack in the middle of a parking lot!

Not only is the grave of Mary Ellis embedded in a parking lot, it’s also the focus of a terrific legend. Mary, who came to New Brunswick in the 1790s to live with her sister, fell in love with a sea captain who promised to marry her once he returned from his next voyage. The captain then left Mary his horse and sailed off down the Raritan River.

Every day, Mary rode her lover’s steed down to the river, hoping to meet him at the water’s edge. For years, she gazed at the river, waiting for his return. In 1813, she purchased a plot of land overlooking the river, where she maintained her vigil until her death in 1826. And there she was buried, forever waiting for her captain.

Meanwhile, commercialism swept through, establishing a series of retail businesses, including a popular flea market, all sharing space with Mary. Today, Mary’s grave is entrenched in the parking lot of a Lowes movie theater.

Wesley Treat’s Roadside Resort has more on Paved Paradise: Cemeteries in Parking Lots – via

Previously on Neatorama: 10 Most Fascinating Tombs in the World