Host: Kyle Crosby
Camera: Michael Malley
Editor: Adam Guillot

Transcript:
We are now in New Iberia and it is known as the Queen City of the historic Bayou Teche, and it has played a crucial role in Louisiana’s epic history. This area was populated by members of the Attakapas tribe for several hundred years. The tribe had a decentralized political structure, with individual villages and bands operating largely independently of one another. However, they were united by a shared language and culture.

As we all know, the word Attakapas is actually a Choctaw word meaning “man-eater”. This is still up for debate, however, because we don’t know if they were actual cannibals or if it’s just a derogatory term used by other native tribes and Europeans in the area once they arrived. From this point, to continue telling the history of New Iberia, we will have to go almost 5000 miles away. In the SouthEastern region of Spain, there is a province called Malaga. Rewind the clocks way WAY back, like far back to the 6th century BC.

The people living in this area had absorbed the Phoenician and Greek cultures, now Roman sources like Heroditus and Strabo would refer to these people as Hispani or more commonly as Iberians. Much later, this term would be used to describe not only people from this specific region, but generally referred to all the people on the peninsula regardless of ethnic differences. As a result, this peninsula made up of modern day Spain and Portugal is referred to as the Iberian Peninsula.

Now let’s come back to this location and fast forward to 1779. 500 colonists from Malaga came up Bayou Teche and settled around what became known as Spanish Lake. They were led by Lt. Col. Francisco Bouligny and named the settlement Nueva Iberia after their Iberian home. The French would refer to it as Nouvelle Iberie and the always creative English called it New Town.

As early as 1788 the colony of Iberia numbered 190 people, the majority of whom were Spanish, but there were the French Acadians fleeing genocide and many French settlers who came to America under St. Denis and Benard de la Harpe. Few American settlers came until after the battle of New Orleans, but one of the first of these was John Weeks, a wealthy gentleman, from Virginia, who brought a number of slaves and became a sugar planter.

Although sugar is the main cash crop in the area, New Iberia is near an area of the state known as the Prairie au Large. This is a large rolling prairie with natural drainage, which is ideal for cattle raising. Going further west, you’re likely to hear stories of outlaws and bandits from the No Man’s Land territory. This leads some locals to Louisiana to refer to two different types of Cajun people: Swamp Cajuns and Prairie Cajuns.

From farm land and grazing cattle fields, to sugar cane production, agriculture is a massive industry in New Iberia. It comes as no surprise that this area was targeted by Union troops in 1863 during the Civil War, establishing a base of operations at the majestic Shadows on the Teche plantation.

Thankfully, unlike other cities and towns, New Iberia didn't suffer from a lot of destruction. Many of its historic buildings, structures, and homes were spared during the war, and they still stand today. Some of the most notable historic buildings in the city include the Shadows-on-the-Teche plantation, the Bayou Teche Museum, and the Conrad Rice Mill.

Sugar cane production also continued during and after the war, so New Iberia didn't suffer from an economic perspective as well. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, things got even better for this New Iberia as now, it was not only a city that was known for its high-quality sugar cane production and trading, it also managed to step foot in the oil and gas industry. Massive oil and gas reserves were discovered in the area, which instantly attracted many oil companies around the world. They established their operations in the city, and soon, oil and gas brought wealth and prosperity to New Iberia. Many historic buildings were renovated and restored during the oil and gas boom in the city.

Efforts to preserve New Iberia's cultural heritage have been ongoing for many years. Organizations such as the Shadows-on-the-Teche Historic Estate and the Bayou Teche Museum have worked to preserve and promote the city's cultural heritage. The Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation also highly values New Iberia's cultural heritage and works to preserve historic buildings and landmarks throughout the state.

Thumbnail Photo Courtesy of Bayou Teche Museum
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