Founding year: the first Erath post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Erath’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Erath is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Erath’s overall grade.
Louisiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Louisiana town has 3.8 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Erath’s 5.2 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Louisiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
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.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Erath post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Erath rank for history?
Erath is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Erath?
One place: the Beard Congregational Church (listed 2015).
How old are the homes in Erath?
14% of Erath’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 3.4% for a Louisiana town; the median home was built in 1969.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the Library of Congress (11), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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