Editing New Iberia, Louisiana (section)

==History==

New Iberia dates its founding to the spring of 1779, when a group of some 500 colonists (''[[Province of Málaga|Malagueños]]'') from Spain, led by Lieutenant Colonel [[Don (honorific)|Don]] [[Francisco Bouligny]], came up [[Bayou Teche]] and settled around what became known as [[Spanish Lake (Iberia Parish)|Spanish Lake]].[[File:Hurricane Ike New Iberia.jpg|thumb|Flooding in New Iberia due to [[Hurricane Ike]], September 2008|left]]

The Spanish settlers called the town "Nueva Iberia" in honor of the Iberian Peninsula; French-speakers referred to the town as "Nouvelle Ibérie" while the English settlers arriving after the [[Louisiana Purchase]] called it "New Town." In 1814, the U.S. government opened a post office in the town, officially recognizing the name as New Iberia, but postmarks from 1802 show the town being called “Nova Iberia” (Latin for "new").<ref>{{cite web|title=American Stampless Cover Catalog: Louisiana|url=https://www.uspcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ASCC-Louisiana.pdf|year=2016|editor-last=Kopersmith|editor-first=Van|publisher=U.S. Philatelic Classics Society|location=Indianapolis, Indiana|access-date=May 20, 2021}}</ref> The town was incorporated in 1839<ref name=EB1911/> as the "Town of Iberia", but the state legislature amended the town's charter in 1847, recognizing New Iberia as the town's name.<ref>{{cite web|date=April 4, 2010|title=East Main Street Historic District - New Iberia, LA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places|url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8HBC_East_Main_Street_Historic_District_New_Iberia_LA|access-date=May 20, 2021|website=Waymarking}}</ref>

In 1868, Iberia Parish was established, and New Iberia became the seat of parish government. At first, only rented space served for the courthouse. By 1884 a new courthouse was completed on a landscaped lot in downtown New Iberia, at the present-day site of Bouligny Plaza. In 1889, the Wakefield family, an African-American family from New Iberia fled to New Orleans after their son was lynched by a white mob; and days after the lynching, the family patriarch and former state senator [[Samuel Wakefield]] committed suicide on Howard Street.<ref>{{Cite news |date=26 January 1889 |title=Samuel Wakefield Jr |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3760944/samuel-wakefield-jr/ |newspaper=[[The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate|The Times-Picayune]] |page=1}}</ref><ref name="sui">{{Cite news |date=2 February 1883 |title=Samuel Wakefield suicide |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3761106/samuel-wakefield-suicide/ |newspaper=The Times-Democrat |page=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> That courthouse served Iberia Parish until 1940. That year the current courthouse was built along Iberia Street, two blocks from the New Iberia downtown commercial district.

In September 2008, New Iberia was struck by [[Hurricane Ike]]. The lakes overflowed and filled the city, flooding it under several feet of dirty, brown water.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hurricanescience.org/history/storms/2000s/ike/|title=2008- Hurricane Ike|website=Hurricanes: Science and Society|access-date=2018-01-08}}</ref> On [[Tornado outbreak of December 12–15, 2022|December 14, 2022]], the southeastern part of the city was heavily damaged by a high-end EF2 tornado, injuring 16 people.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSLCH&e=202212161635 |title=NWS Damage Survey for 12/13/22 Tornado Event |date=December 16, 2022 |publisher=National Weather Service in Lake Charles, Louisiana |access-date=December 16, 2022 |via=Iowa Environmental Mesonet}}</ref>