New Iberia, LA Summary

The city of New Iberia (population 32,000) was first settled on the Bayou Teche by the Spanish in 1779 and remains the only permanent Spanish colony in the state.

Sugarcane was the city’s mainstay crop, although the production of hot spices also became a large enterprise when Acadian settlers moved into the region.

Avery Island (which is actually a salt dome) is home to McIlhenny Tabasco, a leading exporter of Tabasco sauce, which has been in the McIlhenny family for four generations. Neighboring the Tabasco plant is Jungle Gardens.

New Iberia’s Main Street has several buildings of interest including the Church of the Epiphany, once used as a hospital during the Civil War; Broussard House; and the neighboring Mintmere Plantation House, which dates back to 1857. The loveliest structure overlooking the bayou and shaded by a canopy of live oak is Shadowson-the-Teche, a plantation home built in the 1830s. The French colonial home features early Victorian period furnishings as well as a Pandora’s box of 17,000 letters, photographs, and plantation receipts which surfaced during the house’s restoration. Later occupied by the Union army during their Red River Campaign of 1863-64, the house fell into disrepair and has since been restored. It currently features a museum. The oldest rice mill in the nation is on Ann Street at Konriko, now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Each fall, the city holds the Gumbo Cookoff and the Louisiana Sugarcane Festival. New Iberia is serviced by Acadiana Regional Airport, and there is bus service along Hwy 90/I-10.