| Become a Member | Add us to Your Favorites |
|
|
|
  
     |
| E-Mail Us |
|
IMAGES
From
Nostalgiaville |
NOTE: A Click of your Mouse on most of the pictures will enlarge them for better viewing
| Cheri and I arrived via back-roads in New Iberia,
Louisiana about dark. The town is relatively small, but the internal road system is
prone to overwhelm strangers who arrive after dark. We were searching for the only
RV park in the area and were having a hard time communicating with the locals about its
location when we crossed paths with a good Samaritan who took the time to personally lead
us to the campground... Thanks good Samaritan !! This Chief Explorer found the town charming with much of its history well documented and preserved. The huge sprawling Live Oak trees alone are worth a trip to the area. |
 |
NEW IBERIA Early in 1779 Governor Bernardo de Galvez sent Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Bouligny with nearly five hundred Spanish and Canary Island Colonists to establish a settlement on the lower Bayou Teche in the Attakapas Country. These settlement New Iberia, for their own Iberian Peninsula. |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
THE WEEKS' GROVE The building stands in what was known as the "Weeks Grove" of Live Oak trees which extended from Bayou Teche southward for several blocks and which for years formed the eastern boundary of the town. About the turn of the century, the "Weeks Grove" served as a park for New Iberians who gathered here in the evenings to visit and attend band concerts. This building, a one-story dwelling built by Dr W J Emmer in 1902 served for a time as the offices of the short-lived Central Railroad of Louisiana (1900). Thereafter, it was used as a residence in 1914. Mayor Alphe Fonetlieu bought the place and added the upper story. The structure remained a residence until 1959. |
|
| The BUILDINGS of New Iberia |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
THE GROTTO AT NEW IBERIA |
|
|
This Grotto was built for the Christian Brothers of St Peter's College in 1941 by Architect Eugene Guillot. It is a replica of Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in Lourdes. France, where it is believed the Virgin Mary appeared 18 times to a peasant girl. Bernadette Soubirous, in 1858. Bernadette was canonized a Saint on December 8, 1933. |
|
THIS SHRINE ORIGINALLY ERECTED IN 1941 In grateful memory of the pioneer families of New Iberia and in gratitude to God for his abundant blessings on this Teche Country. |
|
| PEOPLE OF NEW IBERIA |
 |
FREDERIC HENRI DUPERIER A native of Philadelphia whose family refugeed from Haiti, he settled here in 1816. In 1825 he married Hortense Berard and purchased land here. A merchant and planter, he and his wife donated in 1837 the land upon which the Catholic church was built. That year he laid out land between Julia and Iberia streets in town lots. Under his leadership the town was incorporated on March 13, 1839, two days before his death. The village of "Iberia" embraced the area between Bank Avenue and French Street. Bayou Teche and Pershing Street. In 1847 the town's name was changed to New Iberia. |
 |
FELICITE A black woman, native of Haiti. During the yellow-fever epidemic here in 1839, she nursed the sick, administered to the dying, closed the eyes of the dead, and wept over their graves. Loved and honored by townspeople for the remainder of her life, she died in January 1852. The day of her burial every business in New Iberia closed its doors, and every man, woman and child in town followed her to her last resting place in St Peter's Cemetery. She was an angel of mercy in a time of pestilence. Her name shall not be allowed to drop into oblivion. |
 |
FREDERICK LARNED GATES Former home of Frederick Larned Gates (1827 - 1897), outstanding citizen, businessman, lawyer, and Civil War veteran. He served as district judge in the 1870's and 1880's. As an early industrialist, Gates developed a cotton seed oil business which was one of the area's major enterprises. |
 |
| THE HOMES OF NEW IBERIA |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| BEGINNING PAGE | STATE HOME PAGE |
|
|
| Become a Member | Add us to Your Favorites | E-Mail Us |
