organization to work, he also delegated to the army corps of engineers the duty of carrying out the reconstruction phase of the president's disaster order. operation noah was born. this and otherh american history programs on our website, where all of our video is archived. that's c-span.org/history. >> this weekend, american history tv is joining our cable partners to showcase the history of lake charles, louisiana. to learn more about the cities on our current tour, visit c-span.org/cities tour. we continue with our look at the history of lake charles. town, ina very unusual the sense town, in the sense of the south, unusual in the sense of louisiana. it doesn't have a plantation

economy. the civil ware issue it has to drag along with a. it is a town that has reinvented itself a number of times to make it work. >> we took a driving tour of the city, with at least army. >> thank you so much for showing us around. tell me about your tie to lake charles. >> i wasn't born here, i have been here for 45 years. i'm native of eastern louisiana, came here to work at the department of labor. i had to learn the community, the industry, the history. you a history background become interested in where you are. >> i can't wait to hear about the history of lake charles. tell me about the city today. >> southwest louisiana, about 30 miles from texas. cuspa town that is on the of english louisiana, spanish louisiana.

it is a population of about 80,000. traditionally, it was a blue-collar town. it started off as cowboy town. through the lumbering industry, through petrochemical and what we find now, a wonderful mixed economy that includes a fairmont of gaming and recreation, as well as blue-collar. let's see it. this part of louisiana was the no man's land. it wasn't part of the louisiana purchase. servant yearsf,or his as a buzzer between the u.s. and spain. was an area that use as a a bit of refuge for scandals and pirates. john lafitte knew most of the early settlers in lake charles.

we are talking about the late 1700s, early 1800s. 1803-1820, the. -- that period of john lafitte. he would relocate people for money, he dealt with commodities. it wasn't just gold and silver. drive, weakeshore will convert into shelby drive. you are actually seeing the lake. lake charles was named for charles elliott, one of the people brought to this area probably by john the feet. he was part of the wrong side of the french revolution. had to escape europe and go west. he pushed further west to louisiana and settled along the this particular short. on the other side, you see the

working site. this side of the lake you see working, as well. >> icy refineries, there is a big petroleum industry. petroleum a huge>> refinery. also major oil refineries. refinery and they are both located among the top 10 refineries in the u.s.. nowbiggest economic driver are the casinos, in terms of actual payroll. >> we can get a glimpse of them. >> there is one casino out there. the other casino is golden nugget. they are on par of lake charles property. they are a billion-dollar investment in south louisiana, and it moves the economy. we are moving from a blue-collar economy in petrochemical, to a more mixed economy that includes hospitality.

of the couchle bit he river. it is the life blood of the area. it allows the port to exist. it provides for recreational activities up and down. >> let me ask about the relationship with the water, particularly with weather. youet hurricanes, are feeling whenever you get bad weather. buildings toigning be much sturdier than they were before. houses that have withstood decades of existence are doing fine. new construction also has to meet the requirements of fema. this body of water will be effected. storm surge is right on up to this body of water. we do get flooding. >> the weather really affects life. one thing people can't notice as

they are watching is it is hot. >> we do have 100 degree days, occasionally we have 100% humidity. >> it is tied for being the most human -- humid city in america. to liveesign your life inside during the summer, and outside during the other seasons. we are down may -- we are down may street. it connects to north lake charles and south lake charles. it is the main drag of city. >> early on in the city's history, and how has evolved? >> earlier, it was wooden fronted buildings, like a wild west town. if you pass closely in, built of pine and cyprus, turpentine. fires0, the great

demolished most of lake charles, leaving us with souvenirs of the great fire in the rebuilding, including the 1911 city hall, and the wonderful courthouse. wonderfuldings are pieces of architecture that remind us you have to build well, strong, and for the future. that's exactly what they did. most of downtown lake charles fell victim to urban renewal in the 70's wendy's parking lots were put in. only today in 2018 do we see there has been a one generation renewal of all of this. it is now a fairly lively streetscape with wonderful auditions -- wonderful additions. the sidewalk, improved facilities, cable, all of this stuff that has been added to enhance the downtown experience. it's sort of a mecca for new entertainment, music, other

venues, entrepreneurial, energy. we will go right to the river and see how close lake charles is to the wilderness. we are going into the industrial part of lake charles. all of these vacant lots would have been covered with sawmills, construction shops, millwork fabricators, using the lumber that would have been harvested along the river. you can see we will dip closer to the river. you see the trees that once lined both sides of the calcasieu river. >> you see more of a b ayou style view you associate with louisiana. >> now we are going to follow the river. there are double loops of the calcasieu river, this is north. >> we are on the river. >> there is no guard, you are in the water.

this is on the northern bank. this is what early settlers would have seen along the river back then. in the day, this would have been floatingth cut lumber on this body of water waiting to be run into the sawmills and the mill shops of lake charles. >> it's interesting how quickly we went from downtown to wilderness. do you feel that duality defines the city? it's a urban remote outpost in the middle of nowhere. you can go from urban lake charles to this almost instantaneously. no matter what direction you go out of the city, you can do that. >> we have seen the refineries, casinos, downtown. this is a really picturesque bayou.

is there anything you wanted people to know about lake charles who may be live on the other side of the country and never heard of it? >> i always found it a good place to live. there is a lot of variety. the town has to be very self-reliant. one of the best expanses of that was after the horrible year of katrina and rita, when everyone was focused on the horrible things in new orleans. lake charles rolled up its sleeves and did its thing. it's the town that doesn't wait for somebody to come and save it. it will actually role of its sleeves and work -- roll up its sleeves and work. i think that is a very good thing. >> thank you so much for showing us around lake charles. >> our cities tour staff recently traveled to lake charles, louisiana to learn about its rich history. learn more about lake charles and other stops on our tort at c-span.org/cities tour.

you're watching american history tv, all weekend every weekend on c-span3. >> next on the civil war, scott hardwick, the former supervisory had saurian at gettysburg national military park talks about the lead up to the september 1862 battle of antietam, and abraham lincoln announcing that emancipation proclamation after the battle. this talk was part of a symposium posted by an emerging civil war blog. scott: what an introduction for an introduction. first off, i do serve as the executive director for civil war trails, and i get to work for all of you. it is absolutely true. the program grows at the grassroots level. it is individuals like you who may have an idea and want a spot marked to the world, you come to us.