Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
A view of Brașov’s Old Town.
Romania • 12 days, 11 nights
Legends of Romania: Castles, Ruins & Culinary Delights
from
Balkans road trip
Bosnia and Herzegovina • 9 days, 8 nights
Balkans Road Trip: Serbia, Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Parking Lot Shoeprints
Dewey Square Pylon & Bent 38
Black Rocks of Pungo Andongo
Abandoned Observatory of the Pioneer Palace
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Names on the bartop.
The Dive
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
The Horn & Hardart Automat was a staple of urban dining in midcentury New York City.
All Hail the Slop Bowl, Lunch of Our Ancestors
about 1 hour ago
The Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound” on display in Las Vegas.
The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound Changed Live Music Forever
about 6 hours ago
Two suitcases in an empty airport hall.
AO Mailbag: Is It Normal to Share a Checked Bag With Your Boyfriend?
2 days ago
Kolaches
How Texas Became an Unlikely Epicenter for Czech Pastries
3 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States New Jersey New Brunswick Evans/Ellis Cemetery

Evans/Ellis Cemetery

Seven people are buried in the middle of what's now a movie theater parking lot.

New Brunswick, New Jersey

Added By
David Weintraub
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
The gravesite among the asphalt.   qazwart / Atlas Obscura User
The gravesite among the asphalt.   qazwart / Atlas Obscura User
Mary Ellis’ grave with the theater in the background.   Richard Arthur Norton
You can see the gate, but no stairs.   qazwart / Atlas Obscura User
The grave with five of the seven people buried here.   qazwart / Atlas Obscura User
Lowes Theater off Route One in New Brunswick. The cemetery is in back.   qazwart / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

You wouldn’t expect to find a miniature graveyard plopped atop a small strip of grass within a sea of asphalt. But in the parking lot of the AMC Lowes New Brunswick Theater (soon to be renamed Sony), that’s exactly what you’ll see.

From the 17th century until the mid-20th century, New Jersey was a rural area with family farms that could trace their roots back to the first settlements. But from the 1960s, New Jersey rapidly grew and the new replaced the old. Farms were mowed down for housing, businesses, and city buildings. But amid this rapid development, many small family cemeteries were spared.

This means you can find tiny burial plots in the most unusual places. In the back of Piscataway High School sits the old Fitz-Randolph family cemetery. Across the street, where Fitz-Randolph Road dead ends by a business park, is the Ruyon resting place. In the middle of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Homedale you’ll find the the Crawford family plot. And of course, there’s the Evans/Ellis cemetery in a theater parking lot.

The small Evans/Ellis plot sits upon a platform about seven or eight feet above the surrounding lot. In this peculiar little graveyard, seven people lie beneath two gravestones (though now one stone appears to be missing). One of the people buried here is Margaret Ellis, the wife of famed Revolutionary War general Anthony Walton White. However, General White isn't buried here. Instead, he's buried in a more dignified location about two miles away in Downtown New Brunswick behind the Christ Church at 5 Peterson Street.

Related Tags

Gravestones Graveyards Burial Places Cemeteries Theaters Roadside Attractions Graves

Know Before You Go

The Ellis/White cemetery is located on private property, but it's the parking lot of the theater, so you really don't need permission first. Few cars park here, and the site is easy to locate in the middle of the lot. There are no stairs to the graves themselves, and at eight feet off the ground, they're not visible from the ground. However, it isn't too difficult to climb the structure and peek at the stones, but be careful.

Community Contributors

Added By

qazwart

Edited By

kristingail, Kerry Wolfe

  • kristingail
  • Kerry Wolfe

Published

May 30, 2018

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6869722/margaret-white
  • https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7972808/anthony-walton-white
  • http://weirdnj.com/stories/cemetery-safari/mary-ellis-rt-1-parking-lot-grave/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ellis_grave
Evans/Ellis Cemetery
17 US-1
New Brunswick, New Jersey
United States
40.489195, -74.416575
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Lawrence Brook Carvings

New Brunswick, New Jersey

miles away

Hoopar Brothers Gravestone

Edison, New Jersey

miles away

Japanese Giant Spider Crab

New Brunswick, New Jersey

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Jersey

Places 2

Nearby Places

Lawrence Brook Carvings

New Brunswick, New Jersey

miles away

Hoopar Brothers Gravestone

Edison, New Jersey

miles away

Japanese Giant Spider Crab

New Brunswick, New Jersey

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Jersey

Places 2

Related Places

  • Three concrete slabs with small, destroyed remains of headstones sit behind a V-shaped tree opening.

    Taos, New Mexico

    The Three Brujas

    Three witches are said to be buried beneath these unmarked concrete graves.

  • Mittie Manning’s Tomb

    Holly Springs, Mississippi

    Mittie Manning's Tomb

    This tomb was fashioned with a sliding window for a grieving mother who struggled with her daughter's death.

  • The gravestone.

    Edinburgh, Scotland

    Grave of 'The Great Lafayette'

    A magician and his beloved, pampered canine were buried together, within days of each other, due to a tragic twist of fate.

  • Tombs.

    Tlacotalpan, Mexico

    Municipal Cemetery of Tlacotalpan

    The graveyard displays the colonial Mexican and Caribbean architectural fusion that defines this city.

  • The backside of the grave, which features the fudge recipe.

    Logan, Utah

    'Kay's Fudge' Gravestone

    Kay Andrews's recipe was so good, her family immortalized it in stone.

  • Gore Hill Cemetery.

    St Leonards, Australia

    Gore Hill Cemetery

    One of Sydney's oldest graveyards hides in plain sight behind a hospital.

  • Eston Hemings’s grave.

    Madison, Wisconsin

    Eston Hemings's Grave

    The final resting place of one of Thomas Jefferson's formerly enslaved sons.

  • Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

    Grave of Caroline Walter

    Flowers have mysteriously appeared on her effigy every day for the last 150 years.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.