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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Lake Charles Commercial (Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1881-1898

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About Lake Charles Commercial (Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1881-1898

Located in coastal southwest Louisiana near the state’s border with Texas, Lake Charles is one of Louisiana’s youngest cities. The first large influx of settlers to the region came in the 1860s and consisted mostly of Northerners and European immigrants. Lumbering was an important early industry. In the 1880s, the region’s agricultural potential began to be recognized. Lake Charles Mayor J. B. Watkins, a native of New York, embarked on an intensive advertising campaign in 1887 aimed largely at Midwestern farmers, who had experience growing grains. His efforts, together with those of Seaman A. Knapp, president of Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University),led to southeast Louisiana’s rapid growth as an agricultural producer, particularly of rice.

The Lake Charles Commercial was founded in 1881 by John McCormick (d. 1892). At that time, the town had a population of just over 800. A four-page Democratic weekly, the Commercial carried a mix of local, national, and international news. McCormick focused on promoting agriculture and industry, as well as schools such as Lake Charles College, founded in 1890 by New England Congregationalists. Much of the paper consists of advertisements placed by local merchants, many of whom were Jewish. Despite the large number of ads for local saloons, in the 1890s the Commercial carried a Women’s Christian Temperance Union column as well as other articles on the temperance movement.

Shortly before his death in 1892, John McCormick turned over the paper to his son Charles Michael McCormick (1866-1900). The Commercial continued until 1898, when it merged with the Lake Charles Tribune and American to form the Lake Charles Weekly American.

Provided By: Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Lake Charles Commercial (Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1881-1898

Dates of Publication

  • 1881-1898

Created / Published

  • Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, La. : John McCormick

Headings

  • -  Lake Charles (La.)--Newspapers
  • -  Louisiana--Lake Charles
  • -  United States--Louisiana--Calcasieu--Lake Charles

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (July 9, 1881)-
  • -  Ceased with Dec. 8, 1898?
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Merged with: American, and: Lake Charles tribune, to form: Lake Charles weekly American.
  • -  American (Lake Charles, La.) (DLC)sn 88064579 (OCoLC)18310138
  • -  Lake Charles tribune
  • -  Lake Charles weekly American (DLC)sn 88064580 (OCoLC)18310145

Medium

  • v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2013271051

OCLC Number

  • 41132284

ISSN Number

  • 2381-5191

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Lake Charles Commercial Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, La. -1898. (Lake Charles, LA), Jan. 1 1881. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2013271051/.

APA citation style:

(1881, January 1) Lake Charles Commercial Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, La. -1898. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2013271051/.

MLA citation style:

Lake Charles Commercial Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, La. -1898. (Lake Charles, LA) 1 Jan. 1881. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/2013271051/.