LeBourgeois Building Investigation

THE HISTORY

(Courtesy of “Ghosts Along the Bayou” by Christine Word)

Walking along Main Street in New Iberia, the old LeBourgeois building, a turn-of-
the-century, two-story structure with a few modern trappings. The ground floor,
currently occupied by the Lagniappe Café, is covered with glossy black ceramic
tiles. Above are a series of tall, vertical-opening windows. From outward
appearances the LeBourgeois building could be just another building on any Main
Street anywhere in America.

But there is a difference. Perhaps it began on the day many years ago when
someone buried a body in the ground beneath the floor. Who or why, no one
knows; neither does anyone know the identity of the deceased. But workman
came across the skeleton in the early part of the century when the building was
being converted from a salon into an automobile showroom.

Predictably, the discovery set off a blizzard of speculation. Some said it was the
body of an unruly slave; others thought it might be a damnyankee; or maybe even
an unfaithful husband (or wife).

Whatever the circumstances, the excitement soon settled down, and, except for
occasional whispers about noisy ghosts, nothing out of the ordinary was known
to have happened there. At least not when it was used by Isaac Martin–father of
contemporary photographer Carrol Martin– for his photography studio. Nor when
it progressed through a succession of tenants–from a doctors’ offices to a baby’s
clothing shop and on to Stagg Records.

But when Kent Hutslar opened his studio in the upstairs portion of the building,
things began to happen. Most of the activity occurs in the dark room, which is
located in a back corner office that had been closed off and neglected for many
years.

Previous owners point out that most of the activities seem to occur in the month
of August. People wonder if this date might coincide with the death of some
previous occupant. Or perhaps it dates back to New Iberia’s outlaw days and the
poor fellow unearthed beneath the showroom floor.

ACTIVITY

Friends and family of the current owners have reported seeing shadows moving
through the upstairs portion of the building. Feelings of being watched have
commonly been reported. Several woman have also reported being shoved or
tapped from behind.

INVESTIGATION

(Thanks Mark for the following write up)

We arrived at the LeBourgeois building Saturday afternoon at about 5:30 that
evening, with eight investigators and our usual equipment. We set up 8 IR
cameras with 2 DVR systems, planning on covering as many rooms of the
upstairs area that we could. We focused three of our IR cameras on the area that
was most known for the “shadow” that lurked upstairs.

During the initial walk through, it seemed nothing felt strange or unusual. A little
later, while standing at the back door on the 2nd floor, Bobbie felt a push from
behind. Upon turning to see who was near her, there was nothing there and no
one around her. This startled her quite a bit and she wasn’t the same the rest of
the night.

After setting up, we left the upstairs area to enjoy a good dinner, courtesy of the
Lagniappe Café, before starting the initial investigation.

We then headed back upstairs, spreading out to different rooms, hoping to be
able to get a glimpse of this famous “shadow”. Yet the night ended up being long,
with very little activity. When you think you get a strange sound or a door that may
have made a creaking noise, you seem to find what causes it and consider it
debunked. During a lighter moment in the night, we shared a laugh due to an
investigator’s clumsiness. However, during the playback of the audio, a slight
whistling can be heard. No one inside the building caused this whistle.

After a short break, we headed back to finish attempting to catch the known
shadow visitor. Again, we tried to get what was said to be there, to show or give
us some kind of sign of it being present. With all the equipment that was used, we
came up empty handed with no hard proof evidence. We started breaking down
the equipment close to 2:30 in the morning. As I entered one of the rooms to
retrieve one of the IR cameras, I seem to have caught a glimpse of what looked
like a large shadow. It ducked behind a corner of the wall, which was enough to
give me a very strange chill. You seem to get used to the feelings you get after
doing this for so long, but it was still a strange feeling, which was the strongest I
had all night. This was seen in the room where the shadow has most often been
seen walking the floors.

We packed up and headed out, wanting to return again for another shot at what is
said to walk the hallways of the LeBourgeois Building.