Lake Charles, Louisiana – Book Tour entry #5

So thankful for the warm welcome I have received in Beautiful Louisiana!

Here is a picture of an awesome Britfield hot air balloon made by an amazing group of creative students at a school in Lake Charles! Love it!

Now, there are your little known factoids about Lake Charles & Louisiana:

1. Lake Charles started as a sawmill town. Several homes within the Charpentier Historic District and the entire downtown was built with this lumber. A fire destroyed nearly everything in the early 1900s. About 30 blocks of the downtown area including the courthouse, city hall and the Catholic Church were all destroyed. It’s known as The Great Fire of 1910.

2. The city of Lake Charles gets its name from a tragically romantic story involving some of the first settlers, Charles Sallier and his wife Catherine LeBleu, as well as the notorious pirate Jean Lafitte!

3. Louisiana is the only state that does not have counties. Its political subdivisions are called parishes.

Until next time…..  C.R.