Lake Charles, a city rich in history and architectural splendor, invites you on a journey through its captivating past. Whether you're a history enthusiast, an architecture buff, or simply seeking a scenic escape, the city's historic districts and scenic routes offer an enriching and delightful experience.

This blog post will guide you through three of Lake Charles' most captivating historical areas: the Charpentier Historic District, the Margaret Place Historic District, and the scenic Shell Beach Drive. We'll highlight some of the standout structures in each, offering a glimpse into their unique charm and history. While we'll touch on some key points of interest, this is just a taste of what these areas have to offer.

For a comprehensive history of all the buildings within these districts, we encourage you to explore our digital Historic Guide below. You can also pick up a physical copy at our Visitors Center or request to have one mailed to you.

Additionally, the Calcasieu Historical Preservation Society Landmark Properties Registry has more information on the history of theses landmarks. 

 

The Charpentier Historic District

The Charpentier Historic District in Lake Charles offers a unique glimpse into the architectural history of Southwest Louisiana. This eclectic neighborhood spans over 40 blocks and is known for its mix of Victorian-style homes, each showcasing distinct designs that reflect the area’s past as a bustling lumber town. Unlike many historic districts, the charm of Charpentier lies in its variety. Turrets, stained-glass windows, intricate woodwork, and expansive porches combine to create a visual feast that tells the story of Lake Charles’ industrial roots and creative flair.

The district’s architecture is influenced by a mix of styles, from Queen Anne Revival to colonial revival and even the Italian Renaissance. These homes, many of which were built from Louisiana cypress and pine, served as catalogs for the area’s sawmill owners, showing off the materials and craftsmanship of the time. Lake Charles' local take on Victorian design is evident in its custom features like "German siding" and the "Lake Charles column"—tapered, two-story pillars that give homes a stately look. As you walk the streets of Charpentier, you’ll encounter homes with colorful histories and sometimes even ghost stories. Some buildings played a role in local events, from serving as temporary jails to being the homes of prominent figures.

BONUS: Every fall, the Charpentier Historic District hosts the Front Porch Series on consecutive Thursdays. Follow their Instagram for updates and join local musicians on the lawns of historic homes for an intimate and uniquely Lake Charles experience.

Discover the unique character and rich history of each area below: Kirby Street and Pujo Street Tour, Broad Street Tour, Rail’s End Tour, Germantown Tour, and Central Place Tour. 

 

THE KIRBY STREET AND PUJO STREET NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR 

Located just south of Broad, this tour focuses on an interesting variety of house styles in an urban forest of live oaks and magnolias and beautiful sub-tropical gardens. The houses were constructed generally between the late 1880s and the early 1930s in a variety of styles from Eastlake to the craftsman bungalow. Here are a few highlights:

  • 809 Kirby - Central School Arts and Cultural Center circa 1912: Note the symmetrical front with the pediments marked Boys and Girls on either side of the central portico. Inside the restored facility are performing art spaces and working artists’ studios.
  • 512 through 504 Pujo Street – The Mary Celina McCormick Houses: Four houses chart the interesting history of John and Mary McCormick who came to the area to publish the Lake Charles Echo, an early weekly newspaper, and later the Commercial, an early daily newspaper. They first lived at the 508 Pujo house and built a one-story addition to house the printing business. In 1893, Mrs. McCormick built another two-story at 512 Pujo as rental property, and in 1915 she constructed a two-story four-square house at 504 Pujo as her new home. In 1920, the one-story addition to 508 Pujo was detached, moved, and remodeled into 510 Pujo as another rental property. 
  • 411 Pujo – Calcasieu Parish Library – Carnegie Branch circa 1950: The library is built on the site of the original 1903 Carnegie Library, and the 1950 building now houses both the downtown branch and the Southwest Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Library. 
  • 328 Pujo – Lake Charles City Hall circa 1948: Originally constructed by the Vincent and Welch Oil Company, the Pioneer Building was purchased by the City of Lake Charles and internally remodeled for housing city offices and council chambers. The exterior retains its distinctive mid-century look with fossilized limestone, green slate, and Prairie-style modern lines. 
  • Pujo at Ryan – southwest corner, Charleston Hotel building circa 1929: Built at the twilight of the Roaring Twenties, the ten-story hotel has a Moorish design style with an exceptional lobby done in Spanish tile and stucco. Currently, the building houses retail businesses, office spaces, apartments, and a ballroom.  
  • Pujo at Ryan – northwest corner, Calcasieu Marine National Bank building circa 1928: Elegant neo-classical design elements distinguish this Favrot and Livaudais designed “temple of money” with massive order pilasters, bronze front door, and arched windows. Currently used as an event center, the interior spaces are magnificent with molded coffered ceilings, terrazzo floors, bronze windows and trims, and enormous holding vaults.  

 

THE BROAD STREET NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR 

Broad Street was once the principal east-west thoroughfare in Lake Charles and was the route of the historic Old Spanish Trail, the original U.S. Highway 90, a transcontinental road that connected the Deep South with the Pacific Ocean. Originally lined with palm trees, Broad Street was the preferred location for the show homes of the so-called “Michigan Men” who relocated to this area after the Civil War to rebuild the lumber industry. Here are a few highlights:

  • 713 Hodges – Temple Sinai circa 1903: Just north of the Masonic Temple is the Byzantine-Romanesque Jewish synagogue. The Jewish community has played a significant role in shaping commerce and the arts in Lake Charles, with notable contributors including Julie Muller, Mayor Adolph Meyer, Rosa Hart, and the Kushner family of musicians, conductors, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. 
  • 723 Broad – The Arthur Wachsen House circa 1905: The distinctive green Ludowici tile roof was added in 1920 to this sprawling Italianate-Colonial Revival villa with a sprawling verandah and porte-cochere. 
  • Kirkman at Broad – First United Methodist Church circa 1926: This sprawling Gothic-inspired complex features strong vertical lines, large lancet stained glass windows, and clustered piers. Locally known as “Big Methodist.” Note the rose window in the nearby Paxton Church Hall. 
  • Broad at Enterprise – Cash Grocery and Sales Building (Cash and Carry) circa 1937: Broad Street changes character from a residential neighborhood to a commercial and warehouse district at this intersection. On the southeast corner of the intersection, Cash Grocery and Sales is one of the last remaining railroad warehouses. Historically, it supplied independent grocers and restaurants; currently restored, it serves as an event venue. 

 

THE RAIL’S END NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR 

North of Broad Street, and close to both the transcontinental rail line and the lake, was an early industrial and transportation hub. Between the 1870s and the 1940s, this area was a working waterfront full of rail lines, warehouses, machine shops, sawmills, and other industrial businesses. With the advent of automobiles and trucking, practically all of the businesses relocated to larger facilities in other parts of the area; however, even today some remnants remain of Southwest Louisiana’s early railroading history. In addition, there are a few cottages and lumbermen’s mansions tucked here and there that tell of earlier lifestyles. Here are a few highlights:

  • 212 W. Pine – Reiser Machine Shop and Foundry circa 1896: The Reiser family relocated from Wisconsin to fabricate parts for industries in this area, working from this graceful but sturdy-looking building. Note the repeated arches. Currently, the structure is used for engineering offices. 
  • 329 Pryce Street – The Sunset Hotel circa 1876: The Sunset served travelers on and workers for the Kansas City Southern and Southern Pacific Railroads, whose depots were only a few blocks away. The Sunset offered clean rooms and features a rare cast iron façade, locally fabricated. 
  • 401 Pine – The Dr. A. J. Perkins, Jr. House circa 1893: Dr. Perkins was the son of the first native-born sawmill owner and had access to the best lumber. This Queen Anne gem is a charmer with the distinctive "O" shaped gallery on the second level and wonderful lapped shingling. 
  • 110 W. Pine – Kelly Weber Warehouse circa 1895: Located on a block that was once crisscrossed by rail lines, this is one of the last remaining railroad-era warehouses in the city. Long a part of the Kelly Weber business empire of wholesale, retail, agricultural, and lumber interests, the building is now a restaurant, pub, and event center. 

 

THE GERMANTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR 

In the 1840s and ‘50s, one of the largest groups to settle in Lake Charles came from the north German coast, led here by the Goos family, who settled in upper Lake Charles, later known as Goosport. The Germans were experienced lumbermen and shipbuilders and left a tradition of excellent woodcraft, some of which can be seen in houses and structures in this neighborhood. Here are a few highlights:

  • 504 Ford – The David John Reid House circa 1879: Built of pine and cypress, this impressive two-and-a-half-story sawmill Victorian has exceptional dentil work at the roof eaves and dormers. The original elaborate porches were destroyed in the 1918 hurricane; however, they have been replaced by simpler wraparound porches. 
  • 519 Ford – Old St. John’s Lutheran Church circa 1888: This frame chapel-style building is the oldest standing church in Lake Charles and first served the German community. The open belfry was closed in when the bell was relocated to the new church.
  • 624 Ford – The Walter Goos House circa 1903: When finances improved, Walter Goos built this impressive three-story home with a grand portico supported by massive Lake Charles columns. This Colonial Revival gem is entirely built of cypress and, together with the first Walter Goos house, serves as a bed and breakfast inn. 
  • Division Street at Kirkman – 715 Kirkman Street – Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd circa 1897: This English Gothic gray sandstone church features elegant stained glass windows and an exceptional hammer-beam ceiling in the sanctuary. While the sanctuary dates to the 1897 date, additions including the church hall and portico were designed to match the authentic Gothic look. 

 

THE CENTRAL PLACE NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR 

Lake Charles had electric streetcars as early as 1894, and one of the lines ran from downtown via Kirby and Kirkman Streets to serve the residents of upper Lake Charles and of Central Place, a prestigious neighborhood that developed on South Division Street. Elegant large homes in distinctive styles can be found in this charming part of the city. Here are a few highlights:

  • 824 South Division – The Guy Beatty House circa 1892: This large Eastlake-style Victorian features decorative gables and fretwork trim. Originally constructed for Beatty, who was the editor of the daily Lake Charles American Press. 
  • 901 South Division – The Judge Winston Overton House circa 1901: The original Queen Anne Revival turned posts and railings of this house were replaced with more stylish Lake Charles columns in 1910; however, the basic lines of the house were not changed one bit. 
  • 902 South Division – The William K. Gray House circa 1922: A Georgian brick mansion designed by Favrot and Livaudais to replace the original Gray house on this site that was damaged in the 1918 hurricane. Clustered Corinthian columns support the entrance portico, and the entire house has an elegant refined grace. 
  • 928 South Division – The Roberts House circa 1918: This Colonial Revival is reputed to be an upscale “kit house.” Did you know? Kit houses were entire houses—from foundation, framing, flooring, walls, plumbing, electrical, trim, windows, doors to roofing—literally thousands of pre-cut, pre-fitted parts—ordered from Sears Roebuck, Morgans, Marshall Fields, and other national vendors. The kit houses were shipped by rail along with detailed instruction books on how to assemble using local carpenters and masons. 

Margaret Place Historic District

The Margaret Place District, recognized as a City Historic District with an active neighborhood organization, is a hidden gem nestled southwest of downtown Lake Charles. This charming, jewel-box-sized area is bordered by the Lake, Park Avenue, Ryan Street, Dr. Michael DeBakey Drive, and Griffith Coulee. Developed as the original streetcar subdivision after the Great Fire of 1910 spurred suburban growth, the district sits on land once known as "Margaret's Pasture." The area was developed by selling lots on the site of the Perkins family home and farm. Prior to the Perkins' settlement, the land was inhabited by Michel de Pithon, a French veteran of the Napoleonic wars, who purchased it in the early 1800s for "a barrel of whiskey and two good blankets."

Margaret Andrus Perkins, wife of Allen Jefferson Perkins Sr., left a lasting legacy in the Lake Charles area. Allen, a prominent figure in local history, established a successful farming, lumber, and mercantile business, significantly shaping the region. In 1885, he purchased 37 acres between the lakefront and Ryan Street, where he built a self-sustaining estate known as the Perkins Homestead. After his death in 1895, Margaret inherited the land. Following her passing in 1910, the property was sold, eventually becoming the site for the Margaret Place District.

In 1912, the Richard-Wasey Company recorded the final plat of Margaret Place, turning the area into a residential neighborhood. Today, Margaret’s legacy is remembered through the district that bears her name, and her land's transformation into a vibrant, historical community.

Here are a few highlights from the Margaret Place district:

  • 121 Park Avenue – Margaret Manor Apartments circa 1920: The very first apartment house in Lake Charles, the four-unit complex features Hollywood Moorish styling with pink stucco, ten-foot ceilings, cozy studies, sun-porches with casement windows, and black-and-white tile floors.
  • 1536 Ryan Street – Immaculate Conception Cathedral School circa 1949: This massive brick school with Gothic styling is the second successor to the convent school which had been lost in the Great Fire of 1910.
  • 106 Grove – The John R. Stevens Craftsman Bungalow circa 1920: The low-pitched gabled roof, exposed rafter tails, grouped multi-paned windows, and tailored detailing and trim make it a great example of a textbook Craftsman bungalow.
  • 101 Grove – The John Texada House circa 1914: A superb raised cottage with a distinctive jerkin-head gable, this builder-designed house used heart pine and cypress with curly cypress for interior trim. A grand exterior staircase leads to the wrap-around porch and bedroom wing.
  • 220 Wilson – The William Henry Managan, Jr. House circa 1920: This honeymoon cottage is built with local lumber from the Managan Lumber Company holdings in Louisiana and with clear Oregon lumber for interior trim from the Managan properties there.
  • Wilson and Pithon intersection – 101 Pithon – The James Clooney House circa 1912: The Clooney brothers each built homes early on in Margaret Place. This American Foursquare features Tuscan columns and chased Chippendale balustrades on the front and side porches. Note the lush tropical gardens. The other Clooney house is a Landmark Register property on Grove Street.
  • 330 Wilson – The Leon Locke House circa 1912: Favrot and Livaudais designed this impressive Italianate villa for pharmacist mayor Leon Locke. Locke was active in civic and transportation and is the father of the Intracoastal Waterway, having lobbied actively for its creation.

 

Shell Beach Drive

Shell Beach Drive, which skirts the lake on the south shore, was once the continuation of the Old Spanish Trail. For decades before the opening of the 1950 Calcasieu River (I-10) Bridge on the north edge of the lake, transcontinental drivers were treated to some of the most sumptuous architecture and gardens on this very drive. Many properties have boathouses that reflect the styles of the houses. Here are a few highlights:

  • 417 Shell Beach Drive – The Annie Goos House circa 1912: A great example of a Dutch Colonial Revival house with a gambrel roof and dormers, this is one of several homes designed and built by the prolific Goos family.
  • 711 Shell Beach Drive – The M. L. Kreamer House circa 1900: This all-pine sawmill Victorian is one of the older houses on Shell Beach Drive and sheltered the Kreamer family when they relocated to Shell Beach Road, then just a dirt-and-oyster-shell path.
  • 811 Shell Beach Drive – The Fletcher Wilmore House circa 1905: This American Foursquare with double porches and a ventilator cupola reflects its original welcoming look. The house offers great views of the water.
  • 813 Shell Beach Drive – The John L. Farque House circa 1907: A raised Louisiana cottage with a wide center hall and front galleries, this design reflected the successful coastal traditions of elevating living space above the damp and of aligning windows and doors to allow for cooling lake breezes.
  • 905 Shell Beach Drive – The Barbe Family Homestead circa 1829: This two-story sawmill Victorian farmhouse with double porches was built around the original Barbe cabin, family tradition says, started in 1802. As the family grew, the house was expanded to this farmhouse.