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PARISH PLANNING BASELINE |
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Calcasieu Parish
Calcasieu Parish sits at the westernmost edge of the state, along the border with Texas and north of coastal Cameron Parish. The parish economy is closely tied to the oil and gas industry and is home to many chemical and refinery-related businesses. Natural resources such as Cheniers and Calcasieu Lake - the only white sand inland beach along the Gulf Coast - also bless the parish.
As one of the state’s najor cities and the parish seat, Lake Charles attracts visitors to its live music venues and gaming facilities. In the past fifteen years, the city has grown rapidly, fueled by the addition of riverboat gaming. Casinos are now one of the parish’s larger employers. The largest annual festival, Contraband Days, celebrates the pirates who found the area’s natural bays perfect places to hide themselves and their loot.
When asked what they valued most about their parish, Calcasieu residents responded:
“We treasure our big beautiful trees, parks, marshes, cheniers, and lakes. We value our people with a special independent "can-do" yet "caring-for-one-another" attitude, our families and our close knit communities in a faith-based small town but big city atmosphere that's easy to get around. We value our strong Cajun culture shown in our food, music, festivals, and our neighborhoods.”
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- Calcasieu means "crying eagle" said to have been the name of the Attakapas Indian chief who gave a peculiar cry like an eagle as he went into battle.
- Calcasieu Parish has 1,071 sq. miles of land and a population density of 172.7 per square mile. In the last three decades of the 1900s, its population grew by 26.2%.
- On the 2000 census form, 99.0% of the population reported only one race, with 24.0% of these reporting African-American. The population of this parish is 1.3% Hispanic (of any race).
- The average household size is 2.61 persons compared to an average family size of 3.11 persons.
- In 2004 health care and social assistance was the largest of 20 major sectors. It had an average wage per job of $27,959.
- Per capita income grew by 18.7% between 1993 and 2003 (adjusted for inflation).
- The parish seat is Lake Charles.
- Larger communities are Bell City, Carlyss, Dequincy, Iowa, Lake Charles, Prien, Sulphur, Vinton and Westlake.
- The parish name is a Native American term, “screaming eagle.”
- Pre-storm, the population was 185,000.
- Significant economic interests are refineries and chemical firms, polymers, mining and support for mineral exploration (oil and gas), tourism (gambling, fishing and hunting), shipping on the Calcasieu River channel (both imports and exports), McNeese State University and retail.
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