Over 3,000,000 people die in the U.S. alone every year. I get that there are other options than burying like cremation, but it seems logical that we would have a shortage of cemetery space. Further, you don’t see cemeteries expanding or new ones being built.
In: Other
Bodies aren’t left in cemeteries in perpetuity. For most cemeteries, the plots are leased out when you buy them. This means after some period of time (I believe 100 years is the standard unless you pay for longer), they would exhume the body, remove the headstone, place the bones in an ossuary, and now there’s a new plot that has opened up.
There’s also the case for older cemeteries and no one knows who actually owns the land. This happened somewhat close to where I live, there was some centuries old cemetery that was originally the middle of nowhere, but ended up being on the corner of what became two primary streets. Places wanted to develop there, but the county didn’t know who actually owned the land. It’s been held up for the last decade or so from commercial places trying to buy that land, but the cemetery part has now been relocated.
Latest Answers