Weeks Island road connects multiple communities to New Iberia
Published 7:00 am Friday, August 21, 2020
- Weeks Island Road was named for the Weeks family which owned large areas of land for sugar cane farming in Iberia Parish.
One of the most unique roads in New Iberia is actually not in New Iberia — sort of.
After traveling past town in the Teche Area, Weeks Island Road starts at the end of New Iberia and helps connect to Lydia, a town outside of New Iberia.
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Weeks Island Road got its name from the family that owned property along it, the Weeks family.
Also known as La. 83, Weeks Island Road starts in Abbeville and passes through New Iberia and ends in Lydia, stretching to 7.78 miles.
A Weeks family history
David Weeks, the builder of the Shadows-on-the-Teche, was just one of many Anglo-Americans who made their way to the Attakapas region, the present day parishes of St. Martin, St. Mary, Iberia, Vermilion and Lafayette, after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase to seek their fortune making sugar, according to the Shadows.
As a young man, David Weeks began working with his father, William Weeks, accumulating much property in the Felicianas and the Attakapas in the early 1800s, purchasing most of Grand Cote (now Weeks Island), over 2,000 acres by 1818.
They grew cotton in the Felicianas, and attempted indigo and cotton in the Attakapas before David Weeks began concentrating on sugar in the early 1820s. While establishing the plantation at Grand Cote, David found time to court and marry Mary Conrad, who was 21 years old and David 32 at the time. The couple resided on William Weeks’ plantation on Bayou Sarah near St. Francisville.
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A loop around New Iberia, Lydia and more
The route essentially forms a loop off of U.S. 90. It dips southward from New Iberia, the seat of Iberia Parish, through the community of Lydia and crosses Weeks Island, a salt dome located within the wetlands along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
After crossing into St. Mary Parish, La. 83 traverses the small rural communities of Louisa, Glencoe and Four Corners en route to the town of Baldwin.
La. 83 serves to connect these locations with US 90, the area’s main highway, with which it shares two interchanges and passes near a third. La. 83 also provides access to Cypremort Point State Park, located along La. 319 on a peninsula that juts out into Vermilion Bay.
A rich history of a road
In the original Louisiana Highway system in use between 1921 and 1955, La. 83 was part of three shorter routes, including State Route 157 from the western terminus to Weeks Island; State Route 903 to Louisa; and State Route 59 to Baldwin.
These highways were joined together under the single designation of LA 83 when the Louisiana Department of Highways renumbered the state highway system in 1955.
Looking for a copy of The Daily Iberian?
Are you looking for a copy of The Daily Iberian if you find yourself on Weeks Island Road? You can pick up the Sunday edition at the Dollar General on 7706 Weeks Island Rd.
