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{{short description|City in Louisiana, United States}}{{For|the lake|Lake Charles (Louisiana)}}{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}

factoids

HTTPS://WWW.CENSUS.GOV/GEOGRAPHIES/REFERENCE-FILES/TIME-SERIES/GEO/GAZETTEER-FILES.HTML>PUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAUDATE=FEBRUARY 12, 2011, US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990, | subdivision_type = CountryUnited States}}U.S. state>StateLouisiana}}List of parishes in Louisiana>ParishCalcasieu Parish, Louisiana>Calcasieu| established_title = FoundedCharles Sallier| named_for = Charles Sallier| leader_party = | leader_title = MayorRepublican Party (United States)>R)City CouncilCITY OF LAKE CHARLESWEBSITE=CITYOFLAKECHARLES.COM, April 6, 2014, | leader_name1 = {{Collapsible list| title = Members list| frame_style = border:none; padding: 0;| title_style = | list_style = text-align:left;display:none;| 1 = Dist A: Marshall Simien| 2 = Dist B: Luvertha W. August| 3 = Dist C: Rodney Geyen| 4 = Dist D: John Ieyoub| 5 = Dist E: Stuart Weatherford| 6 = Dist F: Dana Carl Jackson| 7 = Dist G: Mark Eckard}}| unit_pref = Imperial| area_total_sq_mi = 48.60| area_land_sq_mi = 45.73| area_water_sq_mi = 2.87| elevation_footnotes = | elevation_ft = 15| population_footnotes = | population_total = 848722020 United States Census>2020| population_density_sq_mi = auto| population_urban = auto| population_metro = 254652| population_demonym = Lake CharlesianNorth American Central Time Zone>CST| utc_offset1 = −6North American Central Time Zone>CST| utc_offset1_DST = −5| postal_code_type = ZIP Codes| postal_code = 70601, 70602, 70605, 70606, 70607, 70609, 70615, 70616, 70629| area_code_type = Area Code| area_code = 337www.cityoflakecharles.com}}| pop_est_as_of = 2022| pop_est_footnotes = UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU > ACCESS-DATE=JANUARY 17, 2024,www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html, | population_density_km2 = 716.59Federal Information Processing Standards>FIPS code| blank_info = 22-41155PUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU, March 20, 2022, | area_total_km2 = 125.87| area_land_km2 = 118.44| area_water_km2 = 7.43| image_map = File:Calcasieu Parish Louisiana Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Lake Charles Highlighted.svg| map_caption = Location of Lake Charles in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana}}Lake Charles (French: Lac Charles) is the fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, 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 the state. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Lake Charles’s population was 84,872.WEB, 2020 United States Census,www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/lakecharlescitylouisiana/POP010220, www.census.gov, U.S. Census Bureau, 12 August 2021, The city and metropolitan area of Lake Charles is considered a regionally 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.

History

(File:Ryan Street Lake Charles 1903.jpg|thumb|left|Ryan Street in Lake Charles, 1903)(File:Ryan Street Crowd.jpg|thumb|left|Downtown Lake Charles, {{Circa|1917}})On March 7, 1861, Lake Charles was incorporated as the town of Charleston, Louisiana.WEB, Lake Charles Historical Marker, Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism,www.stoppingpoints.com/louisiana/Calcasieu/Lake+Charles/, Lake Charles was founded by merchant and tradesman Marco Eliche (or Marco de Élitxe) as an outpost. He was a Sephardic Jewish trader of either Basque-Spanish or Venetian-Italian origins. He had arrived in Louisiana after hitchhiking and was invited onto a Spanish vessel due to his determination and loyalty to volunteer and work freely for the Spanish Empire. Long before incorporation and even before the Louisiana Purchase, other names for Lake Charles were Porte du Lafitte (Port of Jean Lafitte) or Rivière Lafitte (River Lafitte/Lafitte’s River), among many other names now lost. Eliche had also founded other outposts and towns in Louisiana prior, most notably Marksville, which is named after him. There are also urban tales he had planned to name the settlement Nouveau Cadix (New Cádiz)”, after the city in Spain, but this is uncertain.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}The town was first incorporated in 1857 as Charleston, after an early settler, Charles Sallier. Ten years later, on March 16, 1867, Charleston was reincorporated as the City of Lake Charles.BOOK, D’Artois Leeper, Clare, Louisiana Place Names: Popular, Unusual, and Forgotten Stories of Towns, Cities, Plantations, Bayous, and Even Some Cemeteries,books.google.com/books?id=HgL-Yi7GIEQC, November 8, 2018, October 19, 2012, LSU Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 978-0-8071-4738-2, 144, The Great Fire of April 1910 devastated much of the city.NEWS, Five Thousand Homeless in Fire-Swept City,www.gendisasters.com/louisiana/10481/lake-charles-la-city-fire-apr-1910, 21 November 2020, The New York Times, 24 April 1910, Lake Charles soon rebuilt, grew and expanded in the twentieth century. The Charleston Hotel was completed in 1929, during the administration of Mayor Henry J. Geary.WEB,www.cityoflakecharles.com/egov/apps/document/center.egov?view=item;id=65, Document Center / History of Lake Charles / City of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Cityoflakecharles.com, September 1, 2018, During and after World War II, Lake Charles experienced industrial growth with the arrival of petrochemical refineries. The city grew to a high of some 75,000 people in the early 1980s, but with local economic recession, the population declined and stagnated. In 1985, the city was identified as a potential Strategic Homeport to support Navy Secretary John Lehman’s desire for a 600-ship Navy.General Accounting Office, Navy Homeports: Expanded Structures Unnecessary and Costly, NSIAD-91-158, June 1991, p.8 Support ships were to be operated from the new Naval Station Lake Charles; but with the tailing-off of the Cold War, the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended it be closed. By 1991, the incomplete base was dropped from the program and shuttered.In 2005, the city was heavily damaged by Hurricane Rita. In 2020, it was battered by two hurricanes, Category 4 Hurricane Laura on August 26–27, and Hurricane Delta on October 9, 2020.WEB, Santana, Rebecca, Plaisance, Stacey, Richer, Alanna, 2020-10-10, Delta adds insult to injury in hurricane-ravaged Louisiana,apnews.com/article/mississippi-tropical-storms-storms-hurricane-laura-hurricane-delta-b79a7554173b9e5730ae0f658be52868, 2021-02-15, AP NEWS, WEB, Bote, Joshua, Shannon, Joel, 2020-10-10, Photos show Hurricane Delta’s aftermath as Louisiana suffers back-to-back storms,www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/10/10/hurricane-delta-damage-photos-show-aftermath-louisiana/5952787002/, 2021-02-15, USA TODAY, en-US, Lake Charles after the hurricane was described as if “20 tornadoes came in and wiped the city”.The southern portion of the city was damaged by an EF2 tornado on October 27, 2021,WEB, By, daryl herzmann, IEM :: PNS from NWS LCH,mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSLCH&e=202110272348, 2021-10-28, mesonet.agron.iastate.edu, en, and an EF1 tornado caused minor damage to downtown Lake Charles on May 13, 2024.REPORT, National Weather Service in Lake Charles, Louisiana, NWS Damage Survey for 05/13/24 Tornado Event,mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSLCH&e=202405141406, Iowa Environmental Mesonet, May 14, 2024, May 15, 2024,

Geography

(File:Henderson Bayou.JPG|thumb|left|Henderson Bayou)Lake Charles, located on a level plain about {{convert|30|mi|km}} from the Gulf of Mexico, has an elevation of approximately {{convert|13|ft|1}} above sea level,WEB,geonames.usgs.gov, January 31, 2008, US Board on Geographic Names, United States Geological Survey, October 25, 2007, and is located on the banks of the Calcasieu River in southwestern Louisiana. It borders both Lake Charles and Prien Lake. Contraband Bayou, Henderson Bayou, and English Bayou flow through the city. Oak trees and pine trees dot the landscape; the lumber industry was once the main economic engine of the area. The Calcasieu Ship Channel, which allows large ocean-going vessels to sail up from the Gulf, also borders the city.The 2010 census recorded Lake Charles total land size was 48.6 sq miles was to 2023 census records Lake Charles being 61.35 sq miles in total size. According to the United States Census Bureau,WEB, Census,quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/2241155.html, Census, April 14, 2014, dead,quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/2241155.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20140415050339quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/2241155.html,">web.archive.org/web/20140415050339quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/2241155.html, April 15, 2014, the city has a total area of {{convert|116.0|km2|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|108.9|sqkm|order=flip}} is land and {{convert|7.1|sqkm|order=flip}}, or 6.12%, is water.WEB,factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US2241155,factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US2241155," title="archive.today/20200212180438factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US2241155,">archive.today/20200212180438factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US2241155, dead, February 12, 2020, Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Lake Charles city, Louisiana, U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder, August 14, 2014,

Climate

Lake Charles is tied with Port Arthur, Texas, and Astoria, Oregon, as the most humid city in the contiguous United States, and the second-most humid measured location behind unincorporated Quillayute, Washington. The average relative humidity in Lake Charles is 90% in the morning, and 72% in the afternoon.WEB, Average Relative Humidity – Morning (M), Afternoon (A), Comparative Climatic Data for the United States Through 2012, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 2013,www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/ccd-data/CCD-2012.pdf, dead,www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/ccd-data/CCD-2012.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20140718012823www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/ccd-data/CCD-2012.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20140718012823www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/ccd-data/CCD-2012.pdf, July 18, 2014, Average annual precipitation is also high among U.S. cities, at {{Convert|57.49|in|mm}} per year.{{Weather box| location = Lake Charles Regional Airport, Louisiana (1991–2020 normals,Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020. extremes 1895–present)| single line = Y| Jan record high F = 88| Feb record high F = 88| Mar record high F = 94| Apr record high F = 95| May record high F = 100| Jun record high F = 106| Jul record high F = 103| Aug record high F = 109| Sep record high F = 105| Oct record high F = 103| Nov record high F = 92| Dec record high F = 89| year record high F = 109| Jan avg record high F = 76.5| Feb avg record high F = 78.1| Mar avg record high F = 82.2| Apr avg record high F = 86.4| May avg record high F = 91.5| Jun avg record high F = 95.4| Jul avg record high F = 96.9| Aug avg record high F = 98.1| Sep avg record high F = 95.7| Oct avg record high F = 90.5| Nov avg record high F = 83.5| Dec avg record high F = 78.6| year avg record high F = 99.1| Jan high F = 63.0| Feb high F = 66.7| Mar high F = 73.1| Apr high F = 79.0| May high F = 85.4| Jun high F = 90.5| Jul high F = 92.2| Aug high F = 92.8| Sep high F = 89.4| Oct high F = 82.1| Nov high F = 72.2| Dec high F = 65.3| year high F = 79.3| Jan mean F = 53.2| Feb mean F = 56.9| Mar mean F = 63.1| Apr mean F = 69.1| May mean F = 76.4| Jun mean F = 82.1| Jul mean F = 83.9| Aug mean F = 84.0| Sep mean F = 80.1| Oct mean F = 71.3| Nov mean F = 61.4| Dec mean F = 55.3| year mean F = 69.7| Jan low F = 43.4| Feb low F = 47.1| Mar low F = 53.1| Apr low F = 59.3| May low F = 67.3| Jun low F = 73.7| Jul low F = 75.6| Aug low F = 75.1| Sep low F = 70.7| Oct low F = 60.4| Nov low F = 50.6| Dec low F = 45.3| year low F = 60.1| Jan avg record low F = 26.7| Feb avg record low F = 31.5| Mar avg record low F = 35.0| Apr avg record low F = 42.9| May avg record low F = 53.8| Jun avg record low F = 66.0| Jul avg record low F = 70.5| Aug avg record low F = 69.4| Sep avg record low F = 57.9| Oct avg record low F = 43.3| Nov avg record low F = 33.7| Dec avg record low F = 29.9| year avg record low F = 25.1| Jan record low F = 12| Feb record low F = 3| Mar record low F = 14| Apr record low F = 30| May record low F = 40| Jun record low F = 51| Jul record low F = 60| Aug record low F = 59| Sep record low F = 45| Oct record low F = 30| Nov record low F = 23| Dec record low F = 11| year record low F = 3| precipitation colour = green| Jan precipitation inch = 5.89| Feb precipitation inch = 3.26| Mar precipitation inch = 3.67| Apr precipitation inch = 4.44| May precipitation inch = 5.40| Jun precipitation inch = 6.54| Jul precipitation inch = 5.69| Aug precipitation inch = 6.19| Sep precipitation inch = 5.18| Oct precipitation inch = 4.80| Nov precipitation inch = 4.13| Dec precipitation inch = 4.56| year precipitation inch = 59.75| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in| Jan precipitation days = 9.3| Feb precipitation days = 8.8| Mar precipitation days = 7.8| Apr precipitation days = 7.2| May precipitation days = 7.9| Jun precipitation days = 10.8| Jul precipitation days = 11.4| Aug precipitation days = 11.3| Sep precipitation days = 8.7| Oct precipitation days = 7.7| Nov precipitation days = 7.9| Dec precipitation days = 9.5| year precipitation days = 108.3| Jan humidity = 78.8| Feb humidity = 76.5| Mar humidity = 76.3| Apr humidity = 76.1| May humidity = 77.3| Jun humidity = 78.2| Jul humidity = 80.1| Aug humidity = 79.8| Sep humidity = 79.4| Oct humidity = 75.9| Nov humidity = 77.3| Dec humidity = 79.0| year humidity = 77.9NOAA (relative humidity 1961–1990)NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICEACCESS-DATE=APRIL 14, 2014, WEB,www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=lch, NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, August 27, 2021, WEB,www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USW00003937&format=pdf, Station: lake Charles, LA, U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, August 27, 2021, WEB,www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1961-1990/TABLES/REG_IV/US/GROUP3/72240.TXT, WMO Climate Normals for Lake Charles/WSO AP, LA 1961–1990, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, August 27, 2021, | source = }}

Hurricanes

Hurricane Laura devastated the city in 2020.NEWS, Rojas, Rick, 2020-10-20, After 2 Hurricanes, Lake Charles Fears Its Cries for Help Have Gone Unheard, en-US, The New York Times,www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/us/lake-charles-hurricane-laura-delta.html, 2022-12-12, 0362-4331, The National Weather Service called the storm surge “unsurvivable” with one-minute sustained wind speeds of 150 mph (240 km/h). Numerous trees were blown down. The Lake Charles Regional Airport saw a gust of 128 miles per hour (206 km/h) as well as multiple hangars destroyed.WEB, Bertorelli, Paul, 2020-08-28, Hurricane Laura Damages Lake Charles Airport, Destroys Radar,www.avweb.com/aviation-news/hurricane-laura-damages-lake-charles-airport-destroys-radar/, 2022-12-12, AVweb, en-US, Another gust in the city reached 137 miles per hour (220 km/h). Many windows were blown out of Capital One Tower downtown. A communications tower collapsed onto the KPLC studio building (which had been evacuated) and part of a sky bridge was blown out. The radar at the NWS Lake Charles forecast office (whose staff evacuated, with the office’s operations transferred to the Brownsville, Texas office) was destroyed around the time of landfall, with its dome and much of its internal equipment sheared from the radar tower’s base. A few weeks later, Hurricane Delta also hit Lake Charles.WEB, Spradling, Travis, Aerial photos: See Hurricane Delta path of destruction in southwest Louisiana, weeks after Laura,www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/multimedia/photos/collection_94453d32-0b19-11eb-83f0-d312054ff57f.html, 2022-12-12, The Advocate, October 10, 2020, en,

Demographics

{{US Census population| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census| 1880 = 838| 1890 = 3442| 1900 = 6680| 1910 = 11449| 1920 = 13088| 1930 = 15791| 1940 = 21207| 1950 = 41272| 1960 = 63392| 1970 = 77998| 1980 = 75226| 1990 = 70580| 2000 = 71757| 2010 = 71993| 2020 = 84872}}Lake Charles is the principal city of the Lake Charles metropolitan statistical area, which had a population of 202,040 as of 2013.WEB,www.census.gov, U.S. Census website, U.S. Census, Bureau, United States Census Bureau, September 1, 2018, It is the larger principal city of the Lake Charles-Jennings combined statistical area, with a population of 225,235. The 2010 population of the five-parish region of Southwest Louisiana was 292,619.WEB,www.allianceswla.org/PageDisplay.asp?p1=4740, Retrieved March 27, 2014, Allianceswla.org, September 1, 2018,allianceswla.org/PageDisplay.asp?p1=4740," title="web.archive.org/web/20180420073728allianceswla.org/PageDisplay.asp?p1=4740,">web.archive.org/web/20180420073728allianceswla.org/PageDisplay.asp?p1=4740, April 20, 2018, dead, For the city proper of Lake Charles at the 2020 census, it had a population of 84,872, with a population density of 1,890 people per square mile among 38,434 housing units.WEB, U.S. Census website,www.census.gov, October 28, 2014, In 2010, the population was 71,993,“Census 2010 Data for the State of Louisiana” (place list), US Census Bureau, February 2011, webpage: C2010-LA {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20200212205942factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL1.ST13&prodType=table |date=February 12, 2020 }}. reflecting a rebound from its 1990 population of 70,580.In 2010, the median income for a household in the city was $36,001. The per capita income for the city was $22,855. 20.9% of the population was below the poverty line; in 2020, the median income for a household in the city was $37,894. 26.7% of the population was below the poverty line. The average commute time was 22.4 minutes.WEB, Census - Table Results,data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=1600000US2241155&tid=ACSDP1Y2019.DP05, www.census.gov, Census Bureau, 4 February 2022,

Race and ethnicity{| class“wikitable” style@text-align:right”

data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=1600000US2241155, www.census.gov, Census Bureau, 4 February 2022, ! scope=“col” | Race! scope=“col” | Number! scope=“col” | Percentage! scope=“row” | American Indian and Alaska Native| 340| 0.4%! scope=“row” | Asian| 2,244| 2.6%! scope=“row” | Black or African American (non-Hispanic)| 39,199| 46.2%! scope=“row” | Hispanic or Latino| 4,772| 5.6%! scope=“row” | Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander| 82| 0.1%! scope=“row” | Not Hispanic or Latino| 35,143| 41.4%! scope=“row” | Some Other Race| 2,205| 2.6%! scope=“row” | Two or More Races| 4,744| 5.6%! scope=“row” | White (non-Hispanic)| 36,058| 42.5%The 2010 census determined that the racial and ethnic makeup for the city was 47% African American, 46% White