Lake Charles, Louisiana
Calcasieu Parish
22-41155
Lake Charles is a city ( with a status of "City" ) and the administrative seat of Calcasieu Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. In 2010, Lake Charles had 71 993 inhabitants.
The city is a major center of petrochemical and Gamble (5 casinos on riverboats and a " Las Vegas Style" casino in the Hotel L' Auberge du Lac) and has a University ( McNeese State University).
Geography
Lake Charles is located in Southwest Louisiana on the shore of Calcasieu River, bordering the lakes Lake Charles and Prien Lake. The border with Texas is located 50 km to the west.
The geographical coordinates of 30 ° 12'53 Lake Charles, " north latitude and 93 ° 12'31 " west longitude. The city covers an area of 110.1 km ², spread over 104.1 km ² land and 6 km ² water surface.
Neighboring cities of Lake Charles, Moss Bluff ( on the opposite bank of the Calcasieu River at the northern city limits ), Iowa ( 23.4 km to the east), Prien ( on the southwest city limits ), Carlyss (22 km west-southwest ), Sulphur ( 16.4 km to the west ) and Westlake ( on the opposite bank of the Calcasieu River on the north-western city limits ).
The nearest big cities are Lafayette (120 km east), Louisiana's capital Baton Rouge (210 km in the same direction), Shreveport (302 km north), Beaumont, Texas ( 97.2 km to the west ) and Texas ' largest city, Houston (231 km in the same direction).
Traffic
The Port of Lake Charles, the sixteenth largest in the country, through a deep water channel to the Gulf of Mexico and therefore can also be reached by seagoing vessels.
Interstate 10 runs along the southern city limits of Lake Charles. Running parallel to U.S. Highway 90 as the main road through the city center. U.S. Highway 171 reaches the junction with U.S. 90 's southern terminus. In addition, take the Louisiana Highways 14, 384 and 385 together in the city of Lake Charles. All other roads are minor roads, some unpaved roadways and urban roads.
In west-east direction, a railroad line of the BNSF Railway by Lake Charles runs. The route is also used by the Sunset Limited, one trains running from Los Angeles to New Orleans Amtrak express train, which is making a stop in Lake Charles.
Lake Charles has two airports. The Chennault International Airport in the east of the city is mainly used for business, while the Lake Charles Regional Airport is in the southern city border to the passengers of the seventh-largest commercial airport in Louisiana. The nearest major international airport is George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston (247 miles west).
History
The first settlers were French and settled in 1781 near the present town down. The city grew slowly in the subsequent period. This changed in 1855 with the establishment of sawmills and the establishment of a port from which a lively timber trade with Mexico and Texas, especially with the city of Galveston, took place. Thanks to a recruitment campaign grew in the 1880s, its population by 400 percent.
Hurricane Rita
Lake Charles was devastated on 24 September 2005 by Hurricane Rita. Two days before the city had been evacuated to 90%.
Twinning
- France Perpignan, France, since 1993
- United States Sioux City, United States, since 1995
- Ireland Cobh, Ireland, since 2008
Population
According to the census in 2010 lived in Lake Charles 71 993 people in 28,940 households. The population density was 691.6 inhabitants per square kilometer. In the 28,940 households lived statistically 2.38 per person.
The racial the population was composed of 47.0 percent white, 47.7 percent African American, 0.4 percent Native American, 1.7 percent Asian and 1.2 percent from other ethnic groups; 2.1 percent were descended from two or more races. Regardless of ethnicity were 2.9 percent of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
23.5 percent of the population were under 18 years old, 62.6 percent were between 18 and 64 and 13.9 percent were 65 years or older. 51.7 percent of the population was female.
The median annual income for a household was $ 35,996. The per capita income was $ 22,908. 22.2 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.
Sons and daughters of the city
- Lynda Benglis, an artist
- Boozoo Chavis, musicians
- Michael Ellis DeBakey, the heart surgeon
- Sean Patrick Flanery, actor
- Doug Lawrence, a jazz musician
- Zachary Levi, actor
- Ted Lyons, baseball player and manager
- Earl Nelson, singer
- Dominic Lee Pudwill Gorie, Astronaut
- Lucinda Williams, Musician