Lake Louise, unincorporated place, southwestern Alberta, Canada. It is located on the Bow River in Banff National Park, immediately northeast of the icy blue-green lake of the same name, which is renowned for its scenic beauty. Originally settled in 1884 as a Canadian Pacific Railway construction camp, it was known as Holt City and later Laggan until renamed in 1914 for the lake, which had been “discovered” in 1882 by guide Tom Wilson, who named it Emerald Lake.