Shadows-on-the-Teche, New Iberia LA (March 17, 2014)

Front view of Shadows-on-the-Teche

Shadows-on-the Teche is a beautiful antebellum mansion built 1831-1834.  It was built as a “town” home for the Weeks family.  Their sugar cane plantation was about 16 miles away.  The house stayed in the family for generations before it was given to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  They were pack rats so the attic was filled with old furniture and trunks of goods, correspondence, invoices and diaries.  Consequently, the museum has the original furnishings with exact reproductions of carpets and curtains.  There are even clothes that somehow managed to stay intact in spite of the hot and humid climate.  On the tour, they tell you where things came from and how much they cost because they have the invoices.  The story of the family comes from letters and diaries from the original owners.  Fascinating for a history geek like Dana.

Rear view of Shadows-on-the-Teche

My concept of antebellum mansions was more along the lines of Tara in Gone with the Wind.  This wasn’t like that.  Shadows-on-the Teche has large airy rooms with huge windows to catch the breezes off the bayou.  It is a large, brick building, with only 5 rooms on each level.  There are quite a few ancient live oaks on the grounds.  The one in this picture is 300 years old.  You can see the Bayou Teche from the windows and loggia.

The history of Shadows-on-the-Teche mirrors the history of the South at that time.  Great prosperity growing sugar cane with enslaved workers.  The house was occupied by Union officers during the Civil War.  The family was allowed to live on the second floor rooms during the occupation.  When the Union troops left, they spared the house and did not burn it.  After the war, the family made unsuccessful efforts to continue producing sugar with paid workers.  During financial hard times the house fell into disrepair.  The great-grandson of the builder, the last member of the family tried to find ways to save the house.  On the day before his death in 1958, the National Trust accepted it.