Best Web Design in Lake Charles, LA (2026)

Web Design for Lake Charles, Louisiana

Lake Charles is Southwest Louisiana's largest city, a Gulf Coast port built on longleaf-pine timber money and later on petrochemical refining, casinos, and Cajun-Creole culture. Every May a costumed 'Jean Lafitte' pirate crew captures the city and makes the mayor walk the plank to launch the Louisiana Pirate Festival (Contraband Days). Battered by Hurricanes Rita in 2005 and Laura and Delta in 2020, it remains one of the most humid cities in the contiguous United States.

AppWT works with Lake Charles, LA businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Lake Charles

Also known as. The Lake Area. Imperial Calcasieu.

History. The area was home to the Atakapa-Ishak people before European settlement; the city takes its name from early settler Charles Sallier, whose homestead sat on the lake. It was incorporated on March 7, 1861, as the town of Charleston, then reincorporated on March 16, 1867, as the City of Lake Charles. From the early-to-mid 1800s, timber sales from longleaf pine and bald cypress were the city's primary revenue source. The Great Fire of April 1910 destroyed much of the city's business district. Petrochemical refining drove major industrial growth during and after World War II. Hurricane Rita struck in 2005; Category 4 Hurricane Laura hit August 26-27, 2020, followed weeks later by Hurricane Delta on October 9, 2020, causing widespread destruction including the loss of the Capital One Tower.

Local economy. The metro is a major U.S. center of petrochemical and LNG activity, with large employers including Westlake Chemical, Citgo, Phillips 66, Sasol, PPG Industries, and Turner Industries. The Port of Lake Charles is one of the busiest seaports in the United States and a major Gulf liner-service port. Gaming is a leading industry: L'Auberge Casino Resort (about 2,400 workers) and the Golden Nugget Lake Charles (opened 2014) make it Louisiana's biggest casino market. The Calcasieu Parish School System is the top employer, with roughly 5,000 workers. McNeese State University (founded 1939) and SOWELA Technical Community College anchor education and workforce training.

Culture and community. The Louisiana Pirate Festival, historically known as Contraband Days, is a roughly 12-day May festival drawing over 200,000 people; it opens with a costumed Jean Lafitte 'capturing' the city and the mayor walking the plank. Mardi Gras in Lake Charles dates to 1882 and regularly draws about 150,000 visitors. The region is a hub of Cajun and Creole cooking and zydeco music, with events like the Crawfish Festival, Black Heritage Festival, and Chuck Fest. McNeese Cowboys football plays at Cowboy Stadium (capacity about 17,410). The Lake Charles Symphony (founded 1958) and the Lake Charles Little Theatre (founded 1927, one of Louisiana's oldest community theaters) sustain the performing arts.

What makes Lake Charles distinct. Lake Charles is tied with Port Arthur, Texas, and Astoria, Oregon, as the most humid city in the contiguous United States, averaging about 90% morning humidity. The parish name 'Calcasieu' is said to mean 'crying eagle,' after an Atakapa leader. Singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams wrote the song 'Lake Charles' about the area, and the city is name-dropped in Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road.' Tony Kushner's Tony-nominated musical 'Caroline, or Change' is set in 1960s Lake Charles.

Lake Charles Landmarks and Local Life

• The Charpentier Historic District is named for the carpenter-architects ('charpentier' is French for carpenter) whose Victorian homes fill it.
• The Imperial Calcasieu Museum grounds hold the Sallier Oak - a live oak estimated at around 400 years old
• The Calcasieu River Bridge on I-10 is decorated with flintlock-pistol motifs on its railings - a nod to the pirate legend, and carries roughly 50,000 vehicles daily
• The Mardi Gras Museum - in the Central School Arts and Humanities Center, holds one of the largest collections of Mardi Gras costumes and memorabilia in the South
• The city sits on Lake Charles - Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River, the waterways that give it the 'Lake Area' name