From Charlie’s Lake to Lake Charles: The Forgotten Names Of Our Town

🐊 KNGT 🐊 | Lake Charles, LA — Sitting in my office the other day I was thinking about local history here in Southwest Louisiana. I was unaware that we have actually went through a couple of name changes until we settled on Lake Charles.

The History of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

We start of the journey with the first name, locals called it Charlie’s Lake. The name came from a man named Charles Sallier (which we all have heard of). He moved to the area around 1771 and married Catherine LeBleu. They moved to a piece of land next to the lake and built a home, over the next few years more people moved to the area and people started calling it “Charlie’s Lake” in his honor of its first settler.

Fast forward to 1860 and even more people moved to the area, and they began calling the town “Charles Town” or “Charleston.” On March 7, 1861, the community was officially incorporated as Charleston, Louisiana. With the incorporation it gave us a real name on maps and in government papers.

Even though we made it big, locals liked the connection to the lake. People thought the town should be named after the lake that everyone knew. So in 1867, they changed the name again. This time, it became Lake Charles, the name we still use today.

So, the history of the name looks like this: first it was Charlie’s Lake, then Charleston, and finally Lake Charles. Each name shows how people remembered the man who first settled here and the lake that became the center of our community.

Today, when we say “Lake Charles,” or “The Chuck” we are not just naming a city. We are telling a story that goes all the way back to Charles Sallier and the early days of Southwest Louisiana. It is a reminder that the past still lives on and how we can always make a change if needed.