Into the Shadows: A New Iberia Landmark

As author James Lee Burke sees it, New Iberia is a city with "southern manners and at the same time is a first-name kind of place." Burke fans will easily recognize New Iberia as the setting for several of his crime fighting novels starring Dave Robicheaux as the main character. The town has inspired writers, artists and musicians for generations.

New Iberia's Main Street, depicted by Burke as the most beautiful in the country, is anchored with charming restaurants such as Clementine's, which showcases the work of local artists. Aside from Burke, who still spends half the year here, notable New Iberia natives include Governor Kathleen Blanco, and artist George Rodrigue, known for his Blue Dog paintings. Beyonce` Knowles' family also comes from New Iberia. The town hosts an annual festival in honor of former jazz legend and favorite son, Bunk Johnson. Furthermore, New Iberia is the home of Avery Island (actually a dome of ancient rock salt), famed for its Tabasco sauce factory, and beautiful Jungle Gardens which includes Bird City, nesting grounds for snowy white egrets. Adding to New Iberia's allure, the Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival is held here each September.

New Iberia's history is long and rich. Although founded in the late 18th century by a mixture of French, Spanish and Acadian settlers, the community retains strong French characteristics. It was first called Iberia, referencing Spain, but the name was changed when Iberia parish was created. One of the loveliest places to visit in New Iberia is Shadows-on-the-Teche, a restored antebellum mansion. Over the years, the site has been a stage for business entrepreneurs, politicians, soldiers, and even a backdrop to the Civil War, since the residence once served as headquarters for the Union army during its occupation of the city. This historical home draws approximately 25,000 visitors a year.

Shadows-on-the-Teche rests peacefully on the banks of Bayou Teche, which flows through the fertile sugarcane region of southwestern Louisiana. Visitors to the home can sense an earlier time. This is precisely what Weeks Hall, the fourth generation and last private owner of Shadows-on-the-Teche, envisioned. Although Hall never graduated from high school, his early interest in and talent for art won several scholarships to study in the U.S. and abroad. Upon completion of these studies, he returned to New Iberia and his family home, Shadows-on-the-Teche. Soon thereafter, Weeks restored the structure and created the magnificent gardens, his artistic talent expressed in this living canvas. He remained in his beloved New Iberia home until his death in 1958.

Because Shadows-on-the-Teche, on Main Street, is located in the very center of town, Hall, somewhat of a recluse, designed gardens around Shadows-on-the-Teche as a defense against the noise, traffic and onlookers from the outside world. These include a tall, dense hedge of bamboo which created a natural barrier and gave many a sense of mystery and foreboding to the home. Then, as now, the live oaks predominate, creating an exquisite natural canopy over the premises. While his ancestors planted many of these elegant trees, Weeks Hall shaped and molded the grounds by adding azaleas, and a large number of camellias. The landscape at Shadows-on-the-Teche is a sensuous reminder of this artist. It fills the eye with lush azalea blossoms, riotous ginger lilies, fragile-looking magnolia flowers, and whimsical crepe myrtle; plus, in springtime, the unmistakable scent of sweet olive trees titillates the nose. Though Shadows-on-the-Teche occupies only two and a half acres of the original 158-acre plantation, touring the gardens and grand residence still provides mystique and allure for visitors.

Sugar planter David Weeks and his wife built the white-columned, brick home beginning in 1831 with completion in 1834. It is a National Trust for Historic Preservation property, telling the story of life on a 19th-century Louisiana plantation. More than 17,000 paper documents and many original photographs reveal the lives of former inhabitants, and details of the house, the landscape and the furnishings. Former dwellers introduce themselves through their portraits. Through the years at Shadows-on-the-Teche, people knew prosperity and poverty; they experienced joys, sorrows, fears, sickness and pain. Personal letters preserved among the papers testify to this, in the writers' own words.

Unlike many other columned plantation homes built across the South in the same period, the Weeks home follows a Louisiana Colonial floor plan with exterior staircases, and wide, down-sloping galleries. There are numerous opposing windows and doors for ventilation and no interior hallways. The exterior is Classical Revival, with eight distinctive columns across the façade.

Guides conduct tours at Shadows-on-the-Teche, although guests can also wander around at their leisure. "Our tours take around 30-45 minutes," comments director Pat Kahle, beginning with a 12-minute video in the visitor center. Kahle points out Shadows-on-the-Teche suffered no damage from the recent hurricanes, fortunately. "The only damage was the aftermath. Because of the storm, our visitation is off by 50 percent."

The Shadows preserves a link with the past, and serves as a solid reminder of the many layers of history associated with the site, each succeeding generation building on the one before to become an integral part of the property's history. In 1940, Hall noted in his notebook, "I have never considered myself anything but a trustee of something fine which chance has put in my hands to preserve. Fine things are without value, in that they belong only to those rare people who appreciate them beyond any price. It is to those people that I should like to entrust the place." Visitors can witness an historic home/museum, and gain an understanding of the past by "hearing" the voices of the generations of people who constitute its history. Shadows-on-the-Teche opens a window into New Iberia's soul, and is well worth a visit when experiencing this delightful city filled with characters, legends and lore. ✦