Lake Arthur, LA

Lake Arthur is a Jefferson Davis Parish town sitting on the north shore of the lake that gave it its name. Before it was Lake Arthur, the area included Lakeside and Shell Beach, while Acadian settlers called the water le petit lac Mentau. The modern name grew from Arthur LeBlanc, an early settler whose name travelers folded into le lac d'Arthur. Today the lake is a tidal section of the Mermentau River, and the town limits reach into the water toward the Vermilion Parish line. Lake Arthur is southwest Louisiana in a name-and-water story: an old Acadian phrase, a settler's name, and a lake still defining the town.