Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser, October 28, 1997

Lake Arthur community grew around waterway

by Jim Bradshaw

The lake and the abundant wildlife near it made the place an early camping ground for Native Americans, most likely Attakapas, although there were also Comanche Indians in the area at times during the era just before European settlement.

Acadian families moved to the area in the late 1700s. They called the lake le petit lac Mentau. "Mentau" was the name of an Attakapas Indian chief who had lived in the area. One of those early Acadians was Arthur LeBlanc, and travelers passing through the country began to refer to the lake as le lac d'Arthur, and, through time, it evolved into the present name, Lake Arthur.

In 1811, Atanas Hebert came to Lake Arthur to settle. He brought with him his wife and son, Placide. The first store was operated by D. D. Hebert.

Timber drew most of the early people here. The area was a vast cypress forest holding some of the finest lumber in the south. The first sawmill was established in the Lake Arthur area in 1840 by a man named Carso. In 1868, this mill was bought by Edward F. deLaunay, who sold it in 1871 to Eugene DeChamp, who operated it for a number of years. One of the men who came to work at the Eugene DeChamp Mill was Louis Gaithe, who later became one of the pioneer rice farmers of the area.

As the lumber industry grew, a settlement began to grow with it. Gustave Laurents, who came here in 1854, owned and operated a store. The people living on the prairies toward Gueydan and other places came to Lake Arthur to trade, as the river provided the quickest access to the outside world. Lake Arthur's location at this time was ideal. It served millions of acres of land with a navigable river that was in those days the fastest means of transportation. Schooners came from Galveston with freight and supplies to sell and trade.

Farmers found the highlands around the lake and river hugely productive. At first, they grew corn and other crops, but soon found that rice was the crop to grow.

In 1876, the first rice mill was built approximately where the Emile Andrus house was later built. The mill, built by Gustave Laurents and D. Derouen, was short-lived. After only a few years, it was moved across the lake to Myer's Point.

In 1887, the first rice threshing machine and portable steam boiler came to Lake Arthur. This machine was owned by C. St. Germain and A. M. Gauthier. These men and their machine served the whole district from Lake Arthur to Elton. By 1890, the first rice irrigation pumping plant was built on Bayou Lacassine by Leon and Jacque Viterbo. The Viterbo Pumping Plant was not only the first in this area, but the first in the state.

The first post office was opened at Lake Arthur in 1878, with D. Derouen as postmaster. Mail was received once a month from Leesburg (Cameron), and once in a while by horseback from Lake Charles.

As the country began to develop, and more settlers began to come into the area, it was necessary for more frequent communication with the outside world. A pioneer boatman in Lake Arthur was Capt. Frank Dyer. He was an Englishman who, while stranded in Galveston, met the owner of a schooner that was coming to Lake Arthur. Dyer came and stayed. He built and operated steam tugs and barges that hauled rice and other freight.

About the same time, another boatman came to Lake Arthur from Minnesota. He was Capt. D.E. Sweet, who arrived in 1886 with the tug Ida. Shortly after his arrival, he bought the tug Harry Bishop and served the people from Mermentau to Grande Cheniere. In 1888, he bought the sternwheeler Louisa Storm, and for three years she was a common sight around Lake Arthur. In 1891, he built the sternwheeler Olive. Shortly after this, he retired and turned his boat over to his son, Capt. Henry Sweet. This boat made bi-weekly trips from Mermentau to Grande Cheniere for some 17 years, until 1908.

In 1885, when Lake Arthur was hardly able to support two stores, a large hotel was built on the banks of the lake. This hotel, the Live Oak Hotel, was said to be one of the most modern in south Louisiana. One of its guests was a young Franklin D. Roosevelt, who came to Lake Arthur to hunt before he was stricken by polio. The Live Oak was maintained and operated as a private hotel until 1922, when it was sold to the Lake Arthur Hunting Club. It was torn down in 1934.

A lumber boom began not too long after the town was laid out, with two sawmills working big crews. The lumber barons were Aaron Streater and Pete Reimers. Lee Fox built the first sawmill within the Lake Arthur corporate limits in 1890, but it was destroyed by fire in 1905, as was the Brewer, Reynolds and Streater Mill that had been built on the lake front in 1900. Besides the mills, great piles of lumber covering several acres went up in smoke. More than 5 million feet of cypress lumber alone was lost.

In 1890, the Lake Arthur Town Lot and Land Co. planned the original town. This company was composed of Samuel Marquet, E. L. Lee, W. E. Chapin, and H. C. Kellog. These men were all from the state of Iowa. Later, Samuel Marquet bought all the interest in the town site.

Marquet came here through the influence of a friend who had been tn the area during the Civil War. He didn't mind investing in anything that he thought might turn a profit, and Lake Arthur appealed to him. He and his partners formed a stock company under a $40,000 charter with the plan to sell lots to northerners, similar to the developments that later took place in Florida.

In 1903, a petition signed by a majority of the land holders was submitted to the governor asking that Lake Arthur by incorporated as a village. Names on the petition for incorporation were Dr. V. A. Miller, E. S. Streater, F. A. Smith, J. H. Jeppeson, George S. Wheeler, A. D. Spooner, Nick Arend, H. E. Sergrist, John L. Walter, A. G. Streater, F. R Gibbs, P. T. Reimers, John Lovell, L. N. Toups, M. Broussard, J. F. Ney, W.H. Ney, J. F. Kestner, George Bailey, and T. E. Broussard. Lake Arthur was incorporated in 1904, and Dr. Miller was chosen as its first mayor.

As early as 1856, Lake Arthur and its environs were visited by priests from Opelousas. Then, after a church was established at Jennings in 1892, the Catholics of Lake Arthur and its vicinity depended upon the visits of priests from there. They finally got a church of their own in 1922. On May 15 of that year, Lake Arthur was made an independent parish by Bishop Jules B. Jeanmard of Lafayette. Rev. W. E. Allen was the first pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Parish. He retired in 1935, and Rev. L. E deMonsabert was made pastor. During his administration, the interior of the church was remodeled, a new rectory was built, and a parish hall was erected.

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