New Iberia tourism officials say they’re the only city in the U.S. that has tri-lingual historical markers.
Iberia Cultural Research Association President Cathy Indest is carrying on her mother’s legacy by working to put up the markers around town.
Indest says her mother was in charge of putting up nine wooden bi-lingual historical markers in the mid-1970’s.
Overtime the wooden markers deteriorated.
“In 2006 my mother died, and I decided I need to continue with this project. So we began working on this and we put up nine tri-lingual historical markers in 2008,” said Indest.
Now you can find 21 bronze historical markers around the city.
All of them featuring the three languages prominent in the city’s history.
“So, this is the story of this particular building in English, French, and Spanish,” explained Indest.
One of those markers notes the history of Church Alley.
“What’s interesting is that it was left open, even after Frederic Henri Duperier died, so that the sisters of Mt. Carmel who took his home, and made it into a school for girls, it was kept open for the nuns to walk with their students to St. Peter’s church for mass,” explained Indest.
Now, tourists visiting from around the world can get a better understanding of the city’s rich history.
While KATC was in New Iberia, a French family from Bordeaux, France stopped at one of the historical markers and began reading it.
The Iberia Cultural Research Association plans to erect more historical markers in the coming year.
