Imperial Cold Case Region

Imperial Cold Case Region encompasses Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, and Cameron parishes, with a combined population of 281,701 according to the 2020 Decennial Census.

Occupying Louisiana’s southwestern corner, the region stretches from the pine forests and rural communities of Allen and Beauregard through the Lake Charles industrial corridor to the marshes and Gulf Coast of Cameron Parish. Its name recalls historic “Imperial Calcasieu,” when Calcasieu Parish encompassed much of present-day southwest Louisiana. Cameron was separated from Calcasieu in 1870, followed by Allen, Beauregard, and Jefferson Davis in 1912. Today, the region combines timber and agricultural country, Coushatta tribal lands, major ports and petrochemical industries, and coastal communities shaped by fishing, shipping, energy development, and the Gulf of Mexico. Lake Charles serves as its principal urban center.

Allen Parish

Population: 22,750

Allen Parish occupies the northern portion of the region, where pine forests, farmland, small communities, and the Calcasieu River shape a landscape that transitions between central and southwest Louisiana. Created from Calcasieu Parish in 1912, the parish developed around agriculture, timber, rail transportation, and communities such as Oberlin, Kinder, and Oakdale. Allen Parish is also home to the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, whose tribal lands and government remain an important part of the parish’s history and present-day identity.

City: Oakdale
Towns: Kinder, Oberlin
Villages: Elizabeth, Reeves
Tribal Lands: Coushatta Reservation
Unincorporated Communities: Bond, Canton, Cherry Grove, Elder, Grant, Lauderdale, LeBlanc, Mittie, Soileau

Law Enforcement:
Allen Parish Crime Stoppers
Allen Parish Sheriff’s Office
Louisiana State Police Troop D
Coushatta Tribal Police Department
Elizabeth Police Department
Kinder Police Department
Oakdale Police Department
Oberlin Police Department
Reeves Police Department

Beauregard Parish

Population: 36,549

Beauregard Parish was created from the northern portion of Calcasieu Parish in 1912. Its landscape is dominated by pine forests and rural communities, with DeRidder developing as the parish seat and commercial center. Timber and agriculture played major roles in the parish’s growth, while its location along Louisiana’s western boundary has long connected it with neighboring East Texas and the broader southwest Louisiana region.

City: DeRidder
Town: Merryville
Census Designated Places: Longville, Oretta, Singer, Sugartown
Unincorporated Communities: Dry Creek, Graybow, Junction, Ragley, Wye

Law Enforcement:
Beauregard Parish Crime Stoppers
Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office
Louisiana State Police Troop D
DeRidder Police Department
Merryville Police Department

Calcasieu Parish

Population: 216,785

Calcasieu Parish forms the region’s population and economic center. Lake Charles developed along the Calcasieu River as a center of trade, transportation, and industry, while communities across the parish grew around timber, agriculture, railroads, and waterways. During the twentieth century, refining, petrochemical manufacturing, shipping, and energy development transformed the Lake Charles–Sulphur corridor into one of Louisiana’s major industrial centers. The parish retains the name most closely associated with historic Imperial Calcasieu, despite the substantial reduction of its original territory.

Cities: DeQuincy, Lake Charles, Sulphur, Westlake
Towns: Iowa, Vinton
Census Designated Places: Carlyss, Gillis, Hayes, Moss Bluff, Prien, Starks
Unincorporated Communities: Bell City, Bellevue, Holmwood, Mossville

Law Enforcement:
Calcasieu Parish Crime Stoppers
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office
Louisiana State Police Troop D
DeQuincy Police Department
Iowa Police Department
Lake Charles Police Department
Sulphur Police Department
Vinton Police Department
Westlake Police Department

Cameron Parish

Population: 5,617

Cameron Parish is Louisiana’s southwestern coastal frontier, stretching from the Texas border across an expanse of marshes, chenier ridges, waterways, wildlife refuges, and Gulf shoreline. Created from Calcasieu Parish in 1870, the parish developed around cattle, fishing, trapping, shipping, and later the oil and gas industries. With no incorporated municipalities, its population remains dispersed among small coastal communities whose histories are closely tied to the Gulf and to repeated cycles of hurricane destruction and rebuilding.

Census Designated Places: Cameron, Hackberry
Unincorporated Communities: Constance Beach, Creole, Gibbstown, Grand Chenier, Grand Lake, Hacketts Corner, Holly Beach, Johnson Bayou, Lone Pine, Lowry, Rutherford Beach

Law Enforcement:
Crime Stoppers: None identified.
Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Office
Louisiana State Police Troop D