Calcasieu Courthouse (Lake Charles): The Haunted Place of Louisiana
Calcasieu Courthouse
Calcasieu Courthouse is the term that came from the word “Atakapa,” which, according to French transliteration, is spelt as Quelqueshue. No one can even guess that “a crying eagle” is the meaning of this term.
You might get amused to know that this was the name given to an Atakapa chief. This chief is the same colonist who once applied to the Calcasieu River.
When the Spanish controlled this area, this river was known as the Rio Hondo. Americans adopted this English transliteration that was the French name for the parish.
A Calcasieu Courthouse Ghost
Talking about Calcasieu Courthouse Parish, one must know about the courthouse located in Louisiana. This courthouse has got famous for its haunted stories.
It is said that this house is haunted by a ghost of an inmate of the same female who got executed here.
On November 28, 1942, the execution took place under the electric chair of the only woman named Toni Jo Henry. This happened because she helped her husband to break out of jail.
Not only this, they both even tortured, robbed, and murdered Joseph P. Calloway with the help of another compliance.
After murdering him, they hid his body between the haystacks in the eastern part of Calcasieu Courthouse Parish.
Soon after all this, Henry was held and got the death sentence after going through three trials. Before her execution, the last person she spoke to was her husband.
Even on her final day, she looked jovial, and the only time she was seen complaining was when her hair had been chopped off. I am sure that freaked you out to some extent.
How much is it to get married at Lake Charles, Louisiana courthouse?
$27.50 in cash
The visitors and the employees working for Calcasieu Parish are convinced that Henry’s spirit is still haunting it.
Many reports of a sudden electrical malfunction that seemed unexplainable came to notice.
Even the smell of hair burning blended with the fragrance of some cheap perfume is also noticed.
The horror isn’t limited to this; lights flickering and equipment starting on its own were also why this place gave goosebumps to its visitors.
Some people even complained of feeling somehow watched by someone even when no one was around. The details of such spooky encounters are enough to give chills, person.
In some rare cases, the voice of women and screams echoing from a stair landing is noticed.
Since the 1940s, this woman (Toni Jo Henry) has become the most talked about topic of the small town situated in Lake Charles as she was the reason behind the cold blood murder of a man.
She was a clever woman with those stunning good looks. The story has it that she, with a friend on her way to free their darling love from the Texas prison, could charm a gentleman to convince him for a ride in a pickup truck.
This beauty in 1942 was also known as the Tiger Girl as she was the first and only female to die in the electric chair. Her daring spirit still lingers all around the courthouse even today.
Charles Lake
Lake Charles or as in the French: Lac Charles. It is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the United States, Louisiana, a state in the southeastern part of the Gulf of Mexico.
Lake Charles is located in southwest Louisiana on three water bodies Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River.
Discovered in 1861, Calcasieu Parish is a city with a significant cultural, educational, and industrial centre in the southwest region of this state.
This place also consists of other 5 significant parishes – Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis.
The city of Lake Charles comes up to be the only metropolitan area in the southwest region of Louisiana.
As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 71,993. Lake Charles is the principal city of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area, which comprises two parishes – Calcasieu, Cameron having a population of 202,040.
Also, this is the city of the Lake Charles-Jennings Combined Statistical Area is the larger principal city.
The area consists of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area and Jennings Metropolitan Statistical Area, with a combined population of 225,235.
How do you get married at the courthouse in Lake Charles?
Must provide a certified copy of the birth certificate; both parents must be present, obtain judicial authorization, sign written consent & show ID.
The total population of these five-parish areas located in Southwest Louisiana was 292,619.
It is considered a regionally significant centre of petrochemical refining, hosting industries like Turner industries, Westlake Chemical Corporation, e.t.c.
It is also home to gaming by contributing the highest to the economy through Casinos, tourism, and education, hosting McNeese State University – a public university founded in 1939 and Sowela Technical Community College.
Due to the waterways and lakes throughout the city, this metropolitan Lake Charles is usually introduced to the Lake Area.
Lake Charles is located on a level plain about 30 miles (48 km) from the Gulf of Mexico.
Who is the Clerk of Court for Calcasieu Parish?
Lynn Jones
It has an elevation of 13 feet (4.0 m) and is located on southwestern Louisiana’s Calcasieu courthouse River banks. It borders both Lake Charles and Prien Lake.
Various Bayou, namely Henderson Bayou, Contraband Bayou, and English Bayou, flow through the city.
For dotting the landscape, trees of oak and pine are seen here so that the lumber industry, which once was the major economic engine of the area, could attest to.
The Calcasieu courthouse Ship Channel also borders the city, which allows those big ocean-going vessels to sail up from the Gulf.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 44.8 square miles (116.0 km2), of which 42.0 square miles (108.9 km2) is land and 2.7 square miles (7.1 km2), or 6.12%, is water.
Knowing so many details about visiting such places is even more exciting. These mysterious and interesting facts add fun to all such places.
I hope all of you found these facts to be interesting. Do not hesitate to share your experience; feel free to tell us in the comment below. Thanks!
The best Item you can bring to Lake Charles
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