voices from the state, part of c-span's 50 capitals tour. isouncer: this year, c-span touring cities across the country exploring american history. up next, a look at our recent visit to lake charles, louisiana. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. >> lake charles is a very unusual town as far as what makes it tick. it is unusual in the south, unusual in the sense of louisiana. it is not -- it doesn't have a plantation economy. it does have a civil war issue that it has to drag along with it. and it's a town that's reinvented itself a number of times to make it work. announcer: while in lake charles, we took a driving tour of the city with lost lake charles author adley cormier. >> thank you so much for showing us around.

tell me about your tried to lake charles. you are not from here originally. adley: i wasn't born here. i've been here for 45 years, which is a pretty long time. i'm a native of eastern louisiana. i came here to work for the department of labor. so in doing that, i had to learn the community, had to learn the industry, learn the history, and with the history background from lsu, you become interested in where you are. >> i can't wait to hear all about the history of lake charles. tell me a little bit about the city today. adley: lake charles is in louisiana, about 30 miles from southwest the gulf and the great state of texas. it's a town that's sort of on the cusp. it's the cusp of french louisiana, english louisiana, spanish louisiana. it's sort of -- population of about 80,000. traditionally, it was a blue-collar town. it started out as a cowboy town, then through the lumbering industry, through petrochemical and railroad, through what we find now, which is a wonderful

mixed economy that includes a fair amount of gaming and recreation as well as blue collar. >> should we see? adley: let's see it. this corner of louisiana was the no man's land. it wasn't part of the louisiana purchase, and so for 50-60 years, this no man's land served as a buffer between the united states and the empire of spain. that meant that this was an area that had quite a bit of use as a refuge for scoundrels and pirates. that is where the stories of john the feet common. he knew most of the early settlers in lake charles. >> what year are we talking? 1800s,late 1700s, early 1803 to 1820. that is the period of john lafitte. all the trade -- he was responsible for about 25% of all the trade in the lower mississippi valley through his black market. he would relocate people for money. he dealt with all sorts of commodities.

it wasn't just the gold and silver. we're not talking about johnny depp here. we are on lakeshore drive. we are going to convert into shelby drive when we cross this intersection. >> so we're seeing actual lake charles? adley: you're actually seeing the lake. the city's namesake. of course, lake charles was named for charles selya, one of the people brought to the area probably by jean le feet. was -- selya was probably on the wrong side of the french revolution and had to escape to europe and came west. pushed further west into louisiana, and then settled along the bodies of this particular shore. on the other side of the lake you can see the working side but this side of the lake used to be working as well. >> i am seeing refineries. you have a big petroleum industry. adley: we have a huge refining industry. petrochemical, also two major oil refineries. phillips 66 refinery and citgo

are both located here, among the top 10 refineries in the united states. >> is that the city's biggest economic driver? adley: the biggest economic driver now are the casinos, in terms of actual payroll. >> so we can get a glimpse of them as well out by the bridge. adley: yeah, there is one casino out there. the other two casinos, golden nugget and a second one, are cited on the board of lake charles property. they are a billion-dollar investment -- their billion-dollar investment in southwest louisiana is part of what moves the economy now. we're moving from a blue collar economy in petro chemical to essentially a more mixed economy that includes a lot of resort and hospitality industry. and now we're seeing a little bit of the calcasieu river. the calcasieu river is the lifeblood of the area. it allows the port to exist. it provides for recreational activities, up and down. >> let me ask about the relationship here with the water, particularly with weather. i mean, we know a lot about louisiana getting hurricanes.

i mean, are these buildings just closed up whenever you get bad weather? adley: we actually are designing buildings to be much sturdier now than they were before, and so houses that have withstood decades of existence are doing fine. the thing is, new construction also has to meet the requirements of fema. now this body of water is tidally effective, and storm surges come right on up to this body of water, so we do get flooding, you know, periodically. >> the weather really affects life down here. one thing that people can't notice as they are watching this is it's hot and human. -- humid. adley: it is very hot and humid. we do have 100 degree days and occasionally have 100% humidity. >> so it's tied as one of the -- it is tied for being the most humid cities in america? adley: right, the most humid in america. you sort of design your life to live inside during the summer and outside during the other

seasons. we are on ryan street, named for jacob ryan, who laid out the city of lake charles. and it also connects north lake charles and south lake charles. it's the main drag of the city. >> tell me, what would this have looked like early on in the city's history and how has it evolved? adley: early on, it would have been essentially a wooden fronted buildings, sort of like a wild west town. packed closely in and built of pine and cyprus, richly turpentined. it was such a city that in 1910, the great fire demolished most of lake charles, leaving us with several souvenirs of the great fire in the rebuilding including -- the rebuilding, including the 1911 city hall and the wonderful cockapoo courthouse -- wonderful courthouse. these two buildings are really wonderful pieces of architecture that remind us that you've got to build well, build strong, and build for the future, and that's

exactly what they did. most of downtown lake charles fell victim to urban renewal in the 1970's, when these parking lots were put in. see today in 2018 do we there has been maybe one generation renewal of all this. it is now a fairly lively streetscape with wonderful additions. additions, that is the trees and sidewalks and approved -- improved utilities, cable, and all this wonderful stuff that has been added to enhance the downtown experience. it is sort of a mecca for new entertainment, music, other venues. a lot of entrepreneurial energy is being spent downtown. we are going to stay on ryan street, go right to the river. we are going to see how close lake charles is to the wilderness. we are going into the industrial part of lake charles. all these vacant lots would have been covered by sawmills and construction jobs, millwork

fabricators, and all that sort of thing, using the lumber that would have been harvested along the river. you can actually see, we are going to dip closer to the river. you can see the trees that once lined both sides of the copies you river. bayou are seeing the more style you typically associate with louisiana. adley: right. and now we're going to follow the river. there are couple of use -- of loops of the calcasieu river. this is north -- >> we're on the river. there is no guard rail. adley: you're in the water. and this is what -- on the northern bank, this is what the early settlers would have seen along the river back then. in the day, this would have been filled with cut lumber floating, logs floating on this body of water, waiting to be run into the saw mills and the mill shops of lake charles. >> it's interesting to me how quickly we went from downtown to

hear. adley: downtown to wilderness. >> do you feel that sort of duality defines the city? adley: really it does define the city, because you are sort of a remote urban outpost in the middle of nowhere, you think, when you look at it on the map. and you can go from urban lake charles to this almost instantaneously. the matter what direction you go out of the city, you can do that. >> we have driven by the lake, we have seen the refineries and the casinos, the downtown, and now this really picturesque bayou. if there was anything you wanted people to know about lake charles, who maybe live on the other side of the country, have never heard of it before, what would that be? adley: i have always found it a good place to live. it has a great deal of variety. it's a town that's had to be very self-reliant. and one of the best experiences of that was after the horrible

year of katrina and rita, when everybody was focused on the horrible things going on in new orleans, lake charles essentially rolled up its sleeves and did things. it's a town that doesn't wait for somebody to come and save it. it's a town that will actually roll up its sleeves and work, and that's good. i think that's a very good thing. >> thank you so much for taking us around lake charles today. adley: my pleasure. announcer: 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 tour at c-span.org/citiestour. you're watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. announcer: c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television company, and

today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in washington, d.c., and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. announcer: next on american history tv, authors william oldfield and victoria bruce discuss the story of frank oldfield, a united states postal inspector who helped build a case against an early 20th century organized crime group called the black hand. this italian-american group would intimidate and extort money from small immigrant businesses. this talk is a little over an hour. >> good evening, everyone. welcome to midtown scholar bookstore. my name is catherine lawrence. i am the owner of the scholar and very pleased to welcome you here this evening to harrisburg, and especially delighted to have this