Town file
Lake Arthur, Louisiana
Lake Arthur, Louisiana (Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 353, "Olivia Newton John Must Die" (12 January 2023). Lake Arthur sits in Jefferson Davis Parish in south-western Louisiana, an hour and forty minutes from Baton Rouge, almost three hours from New Orleans and close to the Texas line.
- Town
- Lake Arthur
- County
- Jefferson Davis Parish
- State
- Louisiana
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 353
- Approximate location
- 30.080, -92.677
Episode 353 / 12 January 2023 / 163 min / full
Olivia Newton John Must Die
"This is Lake Arthur, Louisiana, southwestern Louisiana; Jefferson Davis Parish." about 0:05:28
The case: The Lake Charles family murders (July 17, 1983). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2023
- Population
- 2,736
- Median age
- 30
- Median household income
- $27,969
- Median home value
- $61,200
- Two-bedroom rent
- $621
- Cost of living
- 74.8
- Religious
- 77%
- Property crime
- ▼ about one third
- Violent crime
- ▼ about half
History, in brief
- Most of the population arrived in the 1890s, many of them from Iowa. about 0:07:35
- People in the swamp areas spoke a Cajun Creole dialect that nobody outside understood. about 0:08:02
- The first sawmill was established in 1840, cutting cypress timber. about 0:08:39
- Gustave Laurenz opened the first store in 1854. about 0:08:53
- Early settlers were noble Creoles from New Orleans who bought plantations and first grew corn, then found rice was the crop for the area. about 0:09:01
- The first rice mill came in 1876. about 0:09:31
- The Brussard family was the largest family in the area and its patriarch was a druggist in Lake Arthur. about 0:10:58
- A post office opened in 1878. about 0:11:06
- The first rice thresher and portable steam boiler came in 1887. about 0:10:24
- The first sawmill inside the city limits was built in 1890; by 1905 it had been destroyed by fire. about 0:11:16
- Since 1890 the first rice irrigation pumping plant was built on the bayou. about 0:10:47
- In 1903 a petition signed by the majority of landholders was submitted to the governor asking that Lake Arthur be incorporated. about 0:11:42
- The Southern Pacific Railroad came in 1904. about 0:11:52
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A local enjoys their small hometown where everyone knows your name, everyone is friendly and everyone watches out for each other."about 0:12:37
5 stars
"Lived there since age ten; a small community with big family appeal, excellent schools, small classes and good music and arts at the high school."about 0:13:18
3 stars
"Not many stores in the area."about 0:15:01
1 star
"Small, no growth, no employment, no stores, no things to do and nothing here for the young."about 0:15:20
1 star
"The only good thing is that everyone here helps raise each other's children; drugs are out of control."about 0:16:07
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Iowa, Louisiana23 miles
- Lake Charles, Louisiana33 miles
- Ville Platte, Louisiana49 miles
- St. Martinville, Louisiana51 miles
- Franklin, Louisiana73 miles
- Dry Prong, Louisiana104 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.