Lake Charles, LA
| Lake Charles, Louisiana | ||
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| City | ||
| City of Lake Charles | ||
Clockwise from left: Downtown skyline; Golden Nugget Casino; L'Auberge du Lac Casino; Israel LaFleur Bridge; McNeese State University entrance plaza.
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| Nickname(s): The Lake Area, Lake "Chuck" | ||
 
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| Coordinates: 30°12′53″N 93°12′31″W / 30.21472°N 93.20861°WCoordinates: 30°12′53″N 93°12′31″W / 30.21472°N 93.20861°W | ||
| Country |
 United States
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| State |
 Louisiana
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| Parish | Calcasieu | |
| Founded | March 7, 1861 as Charleston | |
| Renamed | March 16, 1867 as Lake Charles | |
| Founded by | Charles Sallier | |
| Named for | Charles Sallier | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Randy Roach (Democrat) | |
| • City Council |
Members List
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| Area | ||
| • City | 44.8 sq mi (116 km2) | |
| • Land | 42.1 sq mi (109 km2) | |
| • Water | 2.7 sq mi (7 km2) | |
| Elevation | 13 ft (4 m) | |
| Population (2010) | ||
| • City | 71,993 | |
| • Density | 1,711.8/sq mi (660.9/km2) | |
| • Urban | 132,977 | |
| • Metro | 194,138 | |
| Demonym(s) | Lake Charlesian | |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CST (UTC-5) | |
| ZIP Codes | 70601, 70602, 70605, 70606, 70607, 70609, 70615, 70616, 70629 | |
| Area Code | 337 | |
| Website | www |
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Lake Charles (French: Lac Charles) is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, 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 2010 census, the population was 71,993. Lake Charles is the principal city of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area, having a population of 202,040. 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 area of Southwest Louisiana was 292,619.
It is considered a regionally significant center of petrochemical refining, gaming, 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 referred to as the Lake Area.
On March 7, 1861, Lake Charles was officially incorporated as the town of Charleston, Louisiana. Six years after the city was incorporated, dissatisfaction over the name Charleston arose; on March 16, 1867, Charleston was renamed and incorporated as the town of Lake Charles. In 1910, a fire, known as the "Great Fire of 1910", devastated much of the city.
However, Lake Charles soon rebuilt itself and continued to grow and expand in the twentieth century. The Charleston Hotel was completed in 1929, during the administration of Mayor Henry J. Geary. During and after World War II, Lake Charles experienced industrial growth with the onset of the petrochemical refining industries. The city grew to a high of some 75,000 people in the early 1980s, but with local economic recession, the population declined.
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