Ball's Auditorium

The name belongs to Reggie Ball, who after World War II opened a trade school on St. John Street for returning Black veterans, with training paid through the GI Bill. When the school ended in the 1950s, the hall became a stage. KPLC's local history names Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding among the performers, part of the Chitlin' Circuit, the string of venues that welcomed Black artists under segregation. The Ball family's restaurant, Ball's Fried Chick-N, still carries the name.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu — 1.0 mi
  A 6,000-square-foot museum of southwest Louisiana Carnival with about 275 costume mannequins and 14 animated figures, opened in April 2026.
• Imperial Calcasieu Museum — 2.3 mi
  Lake Charles's history museum, founded by the Junior League in 1963, with parish artifacts, Claire Chennault's uniform and the Sallier Oak.
• Sam Houston Jones State Park — 5.0 mi
  A 1,087-acre park on the West Fork of the Calcasieu with longleaf pine, cypress-tupelo swamp, five trails, cabins and kayak rentals.
• Creole Nature Trail Adventure Point — 11 mi
  A free visitor center at the western gateway of Louisiana's only All-American Road, with exhibits on alligators, migrating songbirds and the estuary.

More markers nearby

• Goldband Studio — 0.9 mi
• Cantonment Atkinson — 1.2 mi
• Bilbo Cemetery — 1.2 mi
• 44th Air Refueling Squadron (SAC) — 1.2 mi