A history of Erath,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Erath from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Erath is named after August Erath (March 18, 1843 - September 11, 1900) who emigrated from Switzerland to New Orleans in 1860 and was a bookkeeper in the breweries. He moved to New Iberia in 1876 and erected a brewery there. Erath was later mayor of New Iberia and began to develop land in the Erath area. Although August Erath never lived in Erath, he was close to railroad officials, which brought forth a great business venture for him. Later, Erath built a seltzer water factory in New Iberia and an ice plant in Abbeville. In 1884, he started a hardware business and purchased land located in this area.
In 2005, storm surge forced inland by Hurricane Rita flooded most of the town. Water in most parts of town was up to six feet deep.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Erath’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewMadame Dronet weaving. Erath, Lou…, 1938: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Erath
See all 6 →Erath, decade by decade
1990s
1 historic place in Erath
1 place in Erath is on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Madame Dronet weaving. Erath, Louisiana (1938) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom the Library of Congress (5) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.