Iberia County Louisiana Archives News.....Schwing Insurance Agency Building October 10, 2003 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Mary K. Creamer marykcreamer@yahoo.com April 12, 2017, 1:02 am source: The Daily Iberian: Oct. 2003 October 10, 2003 The Schwing Insurance Agency Building, which stands as a significant landmark in the downtown area, also holds a prominent place in the heart of the owners. "I am very proud of this because it is a great piece of history," said Tony Schwing, owner of the agency and the building. "Of course, the building is important for its location and what it means to the city." The building, located at 300 East Main, was the city's first permanent post office - from 1903 to 1965. Since then, after it was purchased from the federal government by Jules B. Schwing, the building has served as the home of the family insurance business. The old building has been remodeled twice, in 1965 and 1996, but retains basically the same look from 100 years ago. There is a door marked "postmaster" on one of the offices. Also, there are two of the original safes in the building. Both are conversation pieces. One of the big boxes is located in Tony Schwing's corner office, just below the strategic placement of a picture of his late father. The huge attic in the building remains largely in its original state, except for some insulation that has been blown in as a conservation measure. Anyone who wants, or needs, to enter the attic must climb up two ladders to reach a walkway of cypress beams. The trip to the highest points of the building, where the cupola is located, requires more climbing - but it can be done. Beyond its significance to the early growth and history of the city, this old building stood for a time as the first and only federal facility between New Orleans and Houston. The Schwings find it interesting that a building of such significance was built in a small, humble community such as New Iberia, when there were much more important towns in Louisiana and Texas. This building is built like a fortress with walls of solid brick, almost 15 inches thick. During Hurricane Andrew in August 1992, the family rode out the storm in the building. "It was while we were laying on the pallets the interior offices with candlelight flickering on the old walls that we talked of renovating this grand old building," Barbara Schwing said. The building is unique, too, because of how it is situated on the property. "I believe the government wanted it built that way, so the front door would face both streets," Schwing said. "But, as a coincidence, it also faces due north." "I really doubt the government had any requirement that it face north," he said, "but it could have been placed in such a way to keep it away from other buildings - to reduce the spread of fires." The position of the building, whatever the reason, has stirred quite a few discussions through the years. Morris Raphael, writing in his Bayou Browsing column in The Daily Iberian on Aug. 17, 1997, seems to favor the due-north theory. "I've often wondered why the layout pattern was so different from others - the front is not parallel to the street," he wrote. "However, my good and knowledgeable friend Junius White (former postmaster) explained the reason," Raphael wrote. "He told me the unusual design and orientation was the work of architects and civil engineers who had the building laid out according to points of the compass." In other words, the front faces due north. Both Schwing and Raphael agree on that fact but the exact reasons for the building's layout - so far - remains as something of mystery. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/iberia/newspapers/schwingi551gnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/lafiles/ File size: 4.1 Kb