Lake Charles
Sign in to saveparish seat of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States
AI overview
Lake Charles is a city in Louisiana and serves as the main administrative center for Calcasieu Parish. It's an important regional hub in southwestern Louisiana that handles the parish's government and civic functions.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Country
- United States
- State
- Louisiana
- Parish
- Calcasieu
- Founded
- About 1857 as Charleston
- Renamed
- March 16, 1867 ; 159 years ago ( 1867-03-16 ) as Lake Charles
- Founded by
- Charles Sallier
- Named after
- Charles Sallier
- Mayor
- Marshall Simien Jr. ( I )
- City council
- Members list Dist A: Ronnie Harvey, Jr. Dist B: Donald Fondel Dist C: Tommy Bilbo Dist D: Matt Young Dist E: Stuart Weatherford Dist F: Craig Marks Dist G: Matthew Vezinot
- City
- 48.46 sq mi (125.51 km )
- Land
- 45.65 sq mi (118.23 km )
- Water
- 2.81 sq mi (7.28 km )
Article
Lake Charles is the fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on the namesake lake, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu Parish, it is a major industrial, cultural, and educational center in the southwest region of Louisiana. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Lake Charles's population was 84,872.
The city and metropolitan area of Lake Charles is considered a significant center of petrochemical refining, gambling, tourism, and education, being home to McNeese State University and Sowela Technical Community College. Because of the lakes and waterways throughout the city, metropolitan Lake Charles is often called the "Lake Area".