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New Iberia LA

New Iberia, Louisiana

New Iberia, LA Amtrak StationNew Iberia, LA Amtrak Station

Photos courtesy of Pat Simmons

North Washington Street (at railroad tracks), New Iberia 70560

March 15, 2008
Tell 'Em How You Feel

    Amtrak

  • Amtrak President Alex Kummant, President and CEO National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) 60 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002
  • Amtrak Board of Directors

    State Legislature

  • Senator
  • Assemblyperson
New Iberia is known as the "Queen City of the Bayou Teche." Before railroads and roadways, Bayou Teche was the main artery of transportation from New Orleans into south central Louisiana by keel boat and later steamboat.

In late 1879, the first passenger train pulled into New Iberia from New Orleans. The first settlers of this area were from Andalusia, Spain. They were followed by the Acadians of Nova Scotia. History and culture run deep along the Bayou Teche. One of the main attractions in New Iberia is the antebellum home, Shadows on the Teche. "The Shadows" offers a unique picture into the past of life along the Teche.

A curiosity along main street New Iberia is an ancient statue of Hadrian, The Roman Emperor was a native of Iberia [Spain, that is]

Also of interest is Avery Island to the south, actually a salt dome, and home of the Tabasco Factory (the original factory where Tabasco sauce is still made), a bird sanctuary, alligator filled lakes, and the oddest thing of all, a giant statue of Buddha that overlooks an egret-filled lake.

If New Iberia is the "Queen of the Teche" then Saint Martinville is her crown jewel. Located nine miles to the north. Behind St. Martin de Tours Church, known as the Mother Church of the Acadians, on the banks of Bayou Teche, stands the Evangeline Oak. The nearby statue of Evangeline was donated by Dolores del Rio after she starred in the motion picture adaptation of Longfellow's Evangeline, filmed in this area in 1929.

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