Hopkins Street, often recognized as the ‘Main Street’ of New Iberia’s West End, is 1.4 miles long, running from Jane Street to Admiral Doyle Drive. It is also a state highway, known as LA 675, and its name changes at Admiral Doyle Drive to Jefferson Island Road.

Driving down Hopkins Street, one can see a variety of diverse properties: just south of St. Peter Street, a highlight is the House of Rudolph mural, depicting the joie de vivre and diversity of the residents and dedicated to the late Rudy Plomboy, the “Wise Man of Hopkins Street” and owner of House of Rudolph. Further down the street, there are retail food stores and cafes, a community garden, Hopkins-Johnston Elementary School, lumber companies, industrial and commercial concerns and quite a few residences. Hopkins Street was established in New Iberia in the mid-1800s, named after Harvey Hopkins, a landowner in Iberia Parish.

Harvey Hopkins (1808-1867) was the owner of El Dorado Plantation, a sugar cane producer in western New Iberia. He was married to the former Jane Bramhall, and according to Glenn Conrad’s book on New Iberia, the couple donated or subdivided a large part of the property that eventually became the West End neighborhood.

Hopkins also served as a Director of the New Orleans Opelousas Great Western Railroad Company, as per a brief published in the Planters’ Banner of June 30, 1853.

According to Findagrave.com, both Hopkins and his wife are buried in the Rose Hill cemetery in New Iberia. Hopkins died in 1867 and Jane Bramhall Hopkins in 1879. They had no children, which may have led to their donation of the land. Findagrave identifies Hopkins as a slave owner, who “remained loyal to his northern roots and left Louisiana during the Civil War. He returned after the war.” Another interesting note: Harvey’s ancestors include Rhode Island Governor Stephen Hopkins (1707-1785), signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Hopkins Street has recently been subject of a name-change initiative. As stated in Daily Iberian articles written in 2020, community group A New Chapter PUSH has been pressing to change the name from Hopkins Street to J. Leo Hardy Memorial Highway, in honor of the first president of the local NAACP chapter. Cornelius Joseph, New Iberia resident and organizer of the name change initiative, said that recent events in other cities questioning propriety of local monuments and streets gave residents and business owners on Hopkins Street an opportunity to reexamine its name and namesake.

Because Hopkins Street is both a local venue and a state highway, the name change would have to be approved first by the New Iberia City Council, then sent on to the state legislature.

Established: appears on 1885 Sanborn Fire Map

Speed Limit: 25 MPH

Length: 1.4 miles

Traffic: 1 stop sign, 5 traffic lights

Home to: 68 residents, more than 50 businesses