Erath : Vermilion Parish Towns & Cities, Louisiana
Submitted by Kathy LaCombe-Tell
Source: Jim Bradshaw; Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser, 6/24/1997
Submitted August 2004

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Erath

Erath is located on Hwy. 14 in southeastern Vermilion Parish, about 
midway between Abbeville and Delcambre. 
    August Erath, for whom the town is named, was a native of 
Switzerland. He came to New Orleans in 1866 and 10 years later he and 
his wife, Catherine Becht, settled in New Iberia. He became a 
successful businessman, owning a brewery, an ice and bottling company, 
and a hardware business, and was instrumental in having the railroad 
built from New Iberia to Abbeville. He bought land midway along the 
route, drew up a town plan and began selling lots. 

Patrick O'Toole, an Irishman better known as "Pag" was also a promoter 
of the railroad that went through Erath. He owned a large cane 
plantation and residence in the area and gave land for the right-of-way 
to the railroad company. A street in the town is named for him. 

Early landowners in the area included Sevenne (Severin) Primeaux, who 
owned land as early as 1858; Felician Primeaux, who was there in 1873; 
St. Denis Delcambre, in 1876; and a Bouligny family member, in 1878. 

A post office was established in 1893 and the railroad station agent,
Albert Mestayer, became the first postmaster. Dr. Joseph E. Gibbs set 
up a medical practice in Erath and opened a drug store, which also 
housed the post office until it was moved to the railroad station. 

Erath was incorporated as a village in 1899, and Frank Williams became 
its first mayor. Dr. Kibbe, A. L. DeRouen and Lodias Broussard were 
aldermen. 

For many years, Erath was a mission of the Catholic church at 
Delcambre, with the priests coming on Sundays to say Mass at the Albert 
LeBlanc lumber yard. The first Catholic Church established at Erath was 
in 1928. Rev. August Viel was appointed its first pastor. 

The earliest school was a small building on North Kibbe. Later, a two-
story, wood frame building was built at the corner of West Putnam and 
North Kibbe streets. It served the community until 1923, when a three-
story building was put up on North Broadway Street, opposite the 
church.