Iberia Parish

With its multitude of diverse heritage and various successful industries, Iberia Parish of Louisiana is the true American melting pot.
In the mid-1700s, the French explored the area that is now Iberia Parish, and by 1765, many Acadians had arrived, and the Spanish settled along the Bayou Teche in 1779. They named the area Neuva Iberia after the Iberian Peninsula in Spain. Though sugarcane plantations along Bayou Teche attracted English and American settlers, along with their enslaved laborers, by the mid-19th century, French had become the dominant language of the area. By the end of Reconstruction, distinctions between Acadians and neighboring groups had blurred, giving rise to a new people--the Cajuns. Today, Iberians stay true to the agrarian roots, and Iberia Parish is known as the hottest (tabasco), sweetest (sugarcane), oiliest (oil drilling), and saltiest (salt mines) place on Earth.

Nelwyn Hebert, a lifelong resident of Iberia Parish, is an evaluator for the Louisiana Department of Education and a resource coordinator for the Iberia Parish School System, as well as a retired educator. Warren A. Perrin, a lawyer from Lafayette, was president of the task force of FrancoFête '99, author of Acadian Redemption and Vermilion Parish, founder of the Acadian Museum, and president of CODOFIL from 1994 to 2010.