The Erath Building

THE ERATH BUILDING
CIRCA 1884

AUGUST ERATH, BORTN IN MORAT, SWITZERLAND, IN 1843, CAME TO LOUISIANA 
IN 1866, MARRIED CATHERINE BECHT, AND MOVED TO NEW IBERIA IN 1876. 
ERATH WAS A BREWER BY TRADE, AND PRACTICED HIST ART HERE FOR A FEW 
YEARS. IN 1884, HE COMMISSIONED THE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS BUILDING AS 
A RESIDENCE AND PLACE OF BUSINESS. THE ARCHITECTURE IS UNUSUAL IN 
THAT THE SEVERAL GABLES WERE DESIGNED TO MASK SIX CHIMNEYS. AS THE 
BUILDING NEARED COMPLETION, MR. ERATH HAD HIS INITIALS CAST IN IRON AND 
AFFIXED TO THE WEST WALL. HE WAS A CIVIC LEADER AND SERVED AS MAYOR 
FROM 1887 TO 1889. AUGUST ERATH DIED IN 1900.

Submitted by @alwaysreadtheplaque.