When traveling in New Iberia, one road that always seems to garner attention is Lewis Street.

Lewis Street intersects with Admiral Doyle Drive, St. Peter Street and Main Street, three of the major thoroughfares in New Iberia, and helps connect the city to U.S. 90.

Lewis Street is named after Cordelia Wheeler Lewis, who, at one time, owned the area between Bank Avenue and Evangeline Street.

Lewis is one of the oldest family names in the Teche Area.

At approximately 5.7 miles, Lewis Street starts at the Loreauville Road and ends at the Port of Iberia, with several prominent Teche Area businesses and schools along the way.

A street’s namesake

Lewis, the street’s namesake, purchased the land on Oct. 28, 1868, from Myra Clark Gaine of New York. A St. Martin Parish resident, Lewis gained land that measured 20 arpents wide along the west bank of Bayou Teche by 40 arpents deep.

Ann Street, which runs parallel to Lewis Street between Admiral Doyle and Main Street, was named for Ann Lewis, wife of Cordelia’s brother-in-law Mathew Lewis. It has been reported that Cordelia Lewis had great regard for Ann, who was the first person in Cordelia’s will.

End of the line

Lewis Street ends at the Port of Iberia, a 4,000-acre industrial and manufacturing site surrounding a man-made port complex, according to the port website.

The port has access to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf of Mexico through its own Commercial Canal and has access to the Mississippi River through major ports in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. More than 100 companies call the Port of Iberia home, with approximately 5,000 employees and an annual payroll in excess of $166 million. The seven parish Acadiana region, home of the Port of Iberia, draws from a population of over 600,000.