Tag: New Iberia
New Iberia (Spanish: Nueva Iberia, French: La Nouvelle-Ibérie) is a city in and the parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, United States, 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Lafayette. In 1900, 6,815 people lived in New Iberia; in 1910, 7,499; and in 1940, 13,747. The population was 32,623 at the 2000 census.
New Iberia is the principal city of the New Iberia Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Iberia Parish.
The town of New Iberia dates from spring 1779, when a group of 500 Malagueños colonists and Colonel Francisco Bouligny came up Bayou Teche and established a settlement around Spanish Lake. The Spanish settlers called the town “Nueva Iberia” in honor of the Iberian Peninsula, and the French referred to the town as “Nouvelle Ibérie” while the American settlers called it “New Town” after the Louisiana Purchase.
In 1814, the federal government opened a post office, and it was officially known as “New Iberia,” but postmarks shortly thereafter reveal that the town was…
