Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport, Louisiana
City
City of Shreveport
Skyline of Shreveport
Flag
Motto: "A Great Place to Call Home"
Location of Shreveport in Caddo and Bossier Parishes, Louisiana.
Coordinates: 32°30′53″N 93°44′50″W / 32.51472°N 93.74722°W / 32.51472; -93.74722Coordinates: 32°30′53″N 93°44′50″W / 32.51472°N 93.74722°W / 32.51472; -93.74722
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parishes	Caddo, Bossier
Founded	1836
Incorporated	March 20, 1839
Named for	Henry Miller Shreve
Government
• Mayor	Ollie Tyler (D)
• City Council	Members list Chair: James Flurry (R) Dist A: Willie Bradford (D) Dist B: Jeff Everson (D) Dist C: Oliver Jenkins (R) Dist D: Michael Corbin (R) Dist E: James Flurry (R) Dist F: Stephanie Lynch (D) Dist G: Jerry Bowman (D)
Area[1]
• City	122.35 sq mi (316.88 km2)
• Land	107.14 sq mi (277.48 km2)
• Water	15.21 sq mi (39.40 km2)  12.79%
• Metro	2,698 sq mi (6,987.8 km2)
Elevation	144 ft (43. m)
Population (2010)[2]
• City	199,311
• Estimate (2016)[3]	194,920
• Rank	US: 120th Louisiana: 3rd
• Density	1,819.35/sq mi (702.45/km2)
• Urban	298,317 (US: 126th)
• Metro	443,708 (US: 119th)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Area code(s)	318
FIPS code	22-70000
Website	City of Shreveport

The Long–Allen Bridge, a railroad bridge spanning the Red River to connect Shreveport with Bossier City, as photographed from Bossier City

Shreveport (/ˈʃriːvpɔːrt/ SHREEV-port) is the third-largest city in the state of Louisiana and the 113th-largest city in the United States. It is the seat of Caddo Parish^[4] and extends along the Red River (most notably at Wright Island, the Charles and Marie Hamel Memorial Park, and Bagley Island) into neighboring Bossier Parish. Bossier City is separated from Shreveport by the Red River. The population of Shreveport was 199,311 in 2010,^[5] and the Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Area population exceeds 441,000.^[6] The Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area ranks 111th in the United States, according to the United States Census Bureau.^[7]

Shreveport was founded in 1836 by the Shreve Town Company, a corporation established to develop a town at the juncture of the newly navigable Red River and the Texas Trail, an overland route into the newly independent Republic of Texas and, prior to that time, into Mexico.^[8]

Shreveport is the commercial and cultural center of the Ark-La-Tex region, where Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas meet.

History

Early settlers

Shreveport was established to launch a town at the meeting point of the Red River and the Texas Trail. The Red River was cleared and made newly navigable by Captain Henry Miller Shreve, who led the United States Army Corps of Engineers effort to clear the Red River. A 180-mile-long (290 km) natural log jam, the Great Raft, had previously obstructed passage to shipping. Shreve used a specially modified riverboat, the Heliopolis, to remove the log jam. The company and the village of Shreve Town were named in Shreve's honor.^[9]

Shreve Town was originally contained within the boundaries of a section of land sold to the company by the indigenous Caddo Indians in 1835. In 1838 Caddo Parish was created from the large Natchitoches Parish, and Shreve Town became its parish seat. On March 20, 1839, the town was incorporated as Shreveport. Originally, the town consisted of 64 city blocks, created by eight streets running west from the Red River and eight streets running south from Cross Bayou, one of its tributaries.

Shreveport soon became a center of steamboat commerce, mostly cotton and agricultural crops. Shreveport also had a slave market, though slave trading was not as widespread as in other parts of the state. Steamboats plied the Red River, and stevedores loaded and unloaded cargo. By 1860, Shreveport had a population of 2,200 free people and 1,300 slaves within the city limits.

Civil War

"The Old and the New": Tall monument in Shreveport's historic Oakland Cemetery, which dates to 1847, is seen with the distant Regions Bank Tower, the city's tallest building, behind it.

During the American Civil War, Shreveport was the capital of Louisiana from 1863 to 1865, having succeeded Baton Rouge and Opelousas after each fell under Union control. The city was a Confederate stronghold throughout the war and was the site of the headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate Army. Fort Albert Sidney Johnston was built on a ridge northwest of the city. Because of limited development in that area, the site is relatively undisturbed.

Map of Shreveport in 1920

Justin Vincent Gras

Skyline of Shreveport in 1953

Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium, home to the "Louisiana Hayride" from 1948 to 1960.

Isolated from events in the east, the Civil War continued in the Trans-Mississippi theater for several weeks after Robert E. Lee's surrender in April 1865, and the Trans-Mississippi was the last Confederate command to surrender, on May 26, 1865. Confederate President Jefferson Davis tried to flee to Shreveport, intending to go down the Mississippi, when he left Richmond but was captured en route in Irwinville, Georgia.

Throughout the war, women in Shreveport did much to assist the soldiers fighting mostly far to the east. Historian John D. Winters writes of them in The Civil War in Louisiana:

"The women of Shreveport and vicinity labored long hours over their sewing machines to provide their men with adequate underclothing and uniforms. After the excitement of Fort Sumter, there was a great rush to get the volunteer companies ready and off to New Orleans...Forming a Military Aid Society, the ladies of Shreveport requested donations of wool and cotton yarn for knitting socks. Joined by others, the Society collected blankets for the wounded and gave concerts and tableaux to raise funds. Tickets were sold for a diamond ring given by the mercantile house of Hyams and Brothers...^[10]

A Confederate minstrel show gave two performances to raise money for the war effort in Shreveport in December 1862. The Shreveport Ladies Aid Society announced a grand dress ball for April 6, 1863. That same month students at the Mansfield Female College in Mansfield in De Soto Parish presented a vocal and instrumental concert to support the war.^[11]

The Red River, which had been opened by Shreve in the 1830s, remained navigable throughout the Civil War. Water levels got so low at one point that Union Admiral David Dixon Porter was trapped with his gunboats north of Alexandria. His engineers quickly constructed a temporary dam to raise the water level and free his fleet.

By 1914, neglect and lack of use due to diversion of freight traffic to railroad lines resulted in the Red River becoming unnavigable. In 1994, the United States Army Corps of Engineers restored navigability by completion of a series of lock-and-dam structures and a navigation channel. Today, Shreveport-Bossier City is being re-developed as a port and shipping center.

Twentieth century

In 1895, Justin Vincent Gras (1868–1959), a native of France, opened the largest grocery and liquor store in Shreveport. "What is good for Shreveport is good for me" became his motto. Gras turned to real estate and by the 1920s was the largest landholder in Caddo Parish. Gras and his wife, Eugenie, donated $2.3 million to establish the Community Foundation of North Louisiana. During World War I, Gras rebuilt the home church of his native village in the Pyrenees. He is interred at St. Joseph Cemetery in Shreveport.^[12][13]

By the 1910s, Huddie William Ledbetter—also known as "Lead Belly", a blues singer and guitarist who eventually achieved worldwide fame—was performing for Shreveport audiences in St. Paul's Bottoms, the notorious red-light district of Shreveport which operated legally from 1903 to 1917. Ledbetter began to develop his own style of music after exposure to a variety of musical influences on Shreveport's Fannin Street, a row of saloons, brothels, and dance halls in the Bottoms. Bluesmen Jesse Thomas, Dave Alexander, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd and the early jazz and ragtime composer Bill Wray and composer Willian Christopher O'Hare were all from Shreveport.

Shreveport was home to the Louisiana Hayride radio program, broadcast weekly from the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. During its heyday from 1948 to 1960, this program stimulated the careers of some of the greatest figures in American music. The Hayride featured musicians such as Hank Williams and Elvis Presley, who made his broadcasting debut at this venue.

In 1963, headlines across the country reported that musician Sam Cooke was arrested after his band tried to register at a "whites-only" Holiday Inn in Shreveport. Public facilities in Louisiana were still segregated, an example of the kinds of injustices that the Civil Rights Movement was working to change.^[14] In the months following, Cooke recorded the civil rights era song, "A Change Is Gonna Come." In 1964 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act to end segregation of public facilities.

In the mid-1990s, the coming of riverboat gambling to Shreveport attracted numerous new patrons to the downtown and spurred a revitalization of the adjacent downtown and riverfront areas. Many downtown streets were given a facelift through the "Streetscape" project, where brick sidewalks and crosswalks were built, and statues, sculptures, and mosaics were added. The O.K. Allen Bridge, commonly known as the Texas Street bridge, was lit with neon lights that were met with a variety of opinions among residents.^[15]

Shreveport was named an All-American City in 1953, 1979, and 1999.^[16]

Geography

Shreveport has several cemeteries, with Forest Park, on St. Vincent Avenue, being one of the largest in the state.

Landscape

Shreveport sits on a low elevation overlooking the Red River. Pine forests, cotton fields, wetlands, and waterways mark the outskirts of the city. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 120.8 sq mi (312.9 km²), of which 105.4 sq mi (272.9 km²) is land and 15.4 sq mi (40.0 km²), or 12.79%, is water.^[5]

Climate

Shreveport has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). Rainfall is abundant, with the normal annual precipitation averaging over 51 inches (1.3 m), with monthly averages ranging from less than 3 inches (76 mm) in August to more than 5 inches (130 mm) in June. Severe thunderstorms with heavy rain, hail, damaging winds and tornadoes occur in the area during the spring and summer months. The winter months are normally mild, with an average of 35 days of freezing or below-freezing temperatures per year, with ice and sleet storms possible. Summer months are hot and humid, with maximum temperatures exceeding 90 °F (32 °C) an average of 91 days per year, with high to very high relative average humidity, sometimes exceeding the 90 percent level.

The extreme temperatures range from −5 °F (−21 °C) on February 12, 1899,^[17] to 110 °F (43 °C) on August 18, 1909.^[18]

Shreveport is also home to a branch of the National Weather Service which provides forecasts and warnings for the greater Ark-La-Tex Region.

Neighborhoods

Pine Wold house (Fairfield Avenue at Kirby Street) was designed by Edward F. Neild, who created some of the designs for the interior of the White House in the Truman administration as well as the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. Pine Wold was constructed in 1903 by lumberman T. J. Jones and expanded in 1919 by oilman J. P. Evans. For a time the Mighty Haag Circus wintered on the grounds, and the circus elephant Trilby is buried there.

Shreveport encompasses many different neighborhoods and districts. Below is a list of the various areas in the Greater Shreveport area of Caddo Parish:

In the Highland section, along Fairfield Avenue, more than a half dozen homes have been designated as historic. These include residences once occupied by Lieutenant Governor Thomas Charles Barret, who served early in the 20th century; a Broadway director, Joshua Logan; a former governor, Ruffin Pleasant, and wife; a physician and developer, George W. Robinson; a Coca-Cola bottler, Zehntner Biedenharn; the first mayor of Bossier City, Ewald Max Hoyer, who took office in 1907; and a major real estate owner, John B. Slattery, whose home is one of five remaining structures in Shreveport designed by the noted architect N. S. Allen.^[22]

Demographics

Map of racial distribution in Shreveport, 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic or Other (yellow)

As of the 2010 census the population of Shreveport was 199,311. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 54.70% Black or African American, 41.16% White, 1.0% Native American, 2.0% Asian, 1.2% from some other race and 1.5% from two or more races. 6.5% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.^[25]

There were 91,501 households, out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.3% were married couples living together, 21.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.12. Population ages ranked as follows: 26.9% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. The city ranks third in the nation of cities over 100,000 population with significant gender disparity: for every 100 females there were only 87.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were just 82.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,526, 72.4% of the national median of $42,148, and the median income for a family was $37,126. Males had a median income of $31,278 versus $21,659 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,759. About 18.7% of families and 22.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.3% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics

In Shreveport, City Hall is known as "Government Plaza".

U.S. Courthouse in Shreveport

The Louisiana State Office Building in Shreveport was originally the headquarters of the former United Gas Corporation.

Founded in 1836 and incorporated in 1839, Shreveport is the parish seat of Caddo Parish. It is part of the First Judicial District, housing the parish courthouse. It also houses the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal, which consists of nine elected judges representing twenty parishes in northwest Louisiana. A portion of east Shreveport extends into Bossier Parish due to the changing course of the Red River.

The city of Shreveport has a mayor-council government. The elected municipal officials include the mayor, Ollie Tyler, and seven members of the city council. Cedric Glover, now a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, was the first African American to hold the mayoral position. Under the mayor-council government, the mayor serves as the executive officer of the city. As the city's chief administrator and official representative, the mayor is responsible for the general management of the city and for seeing that all laws and ordinances are enforced.

Economy

Regions Tower, the tallest building in downtown Shreveport

Health care is a major industry in Shreveport. Christus Schumpert Medical Center is a leading cancer-treatment facility in the South.

Shreveport Convention Center

Shriners Hospital for Children, now at the corner of Samford Avenue and Kings Highway, was the first of its kind in the United States. It was established in 1922.

Shreveport was once a major player in United States oil business, and at one time could boast Standard Oil of Louisiana as a locally based company. The Louisiana branch was later absorbed by Standard Oil of New Jersey. Beginning in 1930, the nation's busiest pipeline operator and massive integrated oil company, United Gas Corporation, was headquartered in Shreveport, until its hostile takeover by Pennzoil in 1968, and the subsequent forced merger. In the 1980s, the oil and gas industry suffered a large economic downturn, and many companies cut back jobs or went out of business, including a large retail shopping mall, South Park Mall, which closed in the late 1990s and is now Summer Grove Baptist Church. Shreveport suffered severely from this recession, and many residents left the area.

Shreveport has largely transitioned to a service economy. In particular, the area has seen a rapid growth in the gaming industry, hosting various riverboat gambling casinos, and, before Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was second only to New Orleans in Louisiana tourism. Nearby Bossier City is home to one of the three horse racetracks in the state, Harrah's Louisiana Downs. Casinos in Shreveport-Bossier include Sam's Town Casino, Eldorado Casino, Horseshoe Casino, Boomtown Casino, Diamond Jacks Casino (formerly Isle of Capri) and Margaritaville Resort Casino. The Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau is the official tourism information agency for the region. The bureau maintains a comprehensive database of restaurants, accommodations, attractions, and events.

In May 2005, the Louisiana Boardwalk, a 550,000-square-foot (51,000 m²) shopping and entertainment complex, opened across the Red River in Bossier City, featuring outlet shopping, several restaurants, a 14‑screen movie theater, a bowling complex, and a Bass Pro Shops.

A new 350,000-square-foot (33,000 m²) convention center was recently completed in downtown Shreveport. It includes an 800-space parking garage. An adjoining Hilton Hotel opened in June 2007. The city's direct construction and ownership of the Hilton Hotel has been a controversial issue as to the proper use of public funds. The Shreveport Convention Center is managed by SMG.

Shreveport is a major medical center of the region and state. The Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport operates at expanded facilities once used by the former Confederate Memorial Medical Center. Major hospitals include Christus Schumpert, Willis Knighton, and the Shriners Hospital for Children.

As of November 2008, excitement has centered around the Haynesville Shale, with many new jobs in the natural gas industry expected to be created over the next few years. Residents in the region are enjoying large bonuses for signing mineral rights leases up to $25,000 per acre. However, the recent economic downturn has resulted in a lower market price for natural gas and slower-than-expected drilling activity. The city itself stands to profit by leasing the mineral rights on public lands in the near future as neighboring municipalities have already done.

Shreveport was home to Shreveport Operations, a General Motors plant that closed in August 2012. The plant produced the Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Hummer H3 series, and the Isuzu i‑Series.^[26] In January 2013, the plant was leased from Caddo Parish by Elio Motors.^[27]

In 2014, the city government pumped $16.5 million into Mall St. Vincent, but the long-term fate of the business is in doubt. An outdoor fountain included in the remodeling project, is crumbling and without water, and plants surrounding the structure have died. In 2017, Gymboree and Grimaldi's Pizzeria and Gymboree closed their Mall St. Vincent operations; Sears is reportedly in jeopardy too. Online shopping and changing consumer habits pose a serious threat to shopping malls; as many as one in four could close within the next five years.^[28]

Top employers

According to the City's 2014 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[29] the top employers in the metropolitan area are:

Film industry

Robinson Film Center is a non-profit organization on Texas Avenue in downtown Shreveport with new and older film offerings, matinees and evenings.

Tax incentives offered by the state government have given Louisiana the third largest film industry in the country, behind California and New York. Louisiana is sometimes called "Hollywood South".^[30] A number of films have been made in Shreveport. Facilities include sound stages, prop rental facilities, the Fairgrounds Complex, and the Louisiana Wave Studio, a computer-controlled outdoor wave pool.^[31]

Selected films shot in Shreveport include:

• The Guardian (2006): Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner
• Factory Girl (2006): Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce
• The Great Debaters (2007): Denzel Washington
• Mr. Brooks (2007): Kevin Costner, William Hurt, and Demi Moore
• Premonition (2007): Sandra Bullock and Julian McMahon
• Cleaner (2007): Samuel L. Jackson
• The Mist (2007): Thomas Jane, Toby Jones and Marcia Gay Harden
• Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008): Martin Lawrence and Cedric The Entertainer
• Soul Men (2008) Samuel L. Jackson, Bernie Mac
• Year one (2008): Jack Black and Michael Cera
• W. (2008): Josh Brolin, Richard Dreyfuss and James Cromwell
• Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008): John Cho and Kal Penn
• I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2009): Matt Czuchry, Jesse Bradford and Geoff Stults
• Super (film) (2010): Ellen Page, Rainn Wilson
• Straw Dogs (2011): James Marsden, Kate Bosworth
• Drive Angry (2011): Nicolas Cage
• Trespass (2011): Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman
• Battle: Los Angeles (2011): Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan
• The Iceman (2012): Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder
• Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013): Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara
• Olympus Has Fallen (2013): Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman
• Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)
• The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014)
• Dark Places (2015): Chloë Grace Moretz, Charlize Theron
• I Saw the Light (2015): Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen

Additionally, several television series have been shot in Shreveport and the surrounding area, including The Gates (2010), and Salem (2014). The Louisiana Film Prize has spurred the creation of over 200 short films shot in Shreveport and northwest Louisiana by filmmakers from around the world since its inception in 2012.

Education

Centenary College entrance

C. E. Byrd High School

Former Line Avenue School now houses part of the Northwestern State University nursing program in Shreveport.

Caddo Public Schools is a school district based in Shreveport. The district serves all of Caddo Parish. Its founding superintendent was Clifton Ellis Byrd, a Virginia native, who assumed the chief administrative position in 1907 and continued until his death in 1926. C. E. Byrd High School, which was established in 1925 on Line Avenue at the intersection with East Kings Highway, bears his name.

Shreveport has several colleges, including the Methodist-affiliated Centenary College (founded at Jackson, Louisiana, in 1825; relocated to Shreveport in 1908) and Louisiana State University in Shreveport, which opened as a two-year institution in 1967. It became four-year in 1976. Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, the only medical school in northern Louisiana, opened in 1969. Shreveport also has one of the largest nursing schools in northern Louisiana, the Northwestern State University College of Nursing. Louisiana Tech University at Shreveport-Bossier City was launched in 2012 offering their Executive MBA and main campus undergraduate and graduate degree programs at the university's Shreveport Center.^[32]

Southern University at Shreveport (SUSLA) offers a two-year associate's degree program.

Founded in 1973, Louisiana Baptist University and Theological Seminary is also located in Shreveport at 6301 Westport Avenue.

Ayers Career College is a Shreveport-based college that offers career training in the medical and HVAC fields.^[33]

Since July 2007, Shreveport is home to a local Remington College campus. This location offers both diploma and degree programs, and is active in the Shreveport Community.^[34]

Virginia College is a new college that opened early 2012. Located in Shreveport/Bossier City, Virginia College offers career training in areas such as Business and Office, Health and Medical, and Medical Billing.^[35]

Religion

Episcopal St. Mark's Cathedral on Rutherford Street

First United Methodist Church on Texas Street in downtown Shreveport. The sanctuary dates to 1913.

Sanctuary of J. S. Noel, Jr. Memorial United Methodist Church in the Highland sections of Shreveport dates to 1913.

First Presbyterian Church is located at 900 Jordan Street in Shreveport near the large State Office Building.

Shreveport has churches of many denominations and sizes. At the head of Texas Street is the large First United Methodist Church, established at that site in 1884. The current sanctuary dates to 1913. The church is pastored by Pat Day. Among its former pastors were D. L. Dykes, Jr., and John E. Fellers. The fiberglass steeple of the church fell onto a passing car during a severe thunderstorm in 2009. It has since been replaced.

A second Methodist congregation is named for J. S. Noel, Jr. The church was begun as a mission in 1906. Methodist layman James Noel and his wife, Fannie, provided financially for the church in its early years. The congregation decided to name the church for the Noel's late son. Like First United Methodist, it opened in the current sanctuary in 1913 and grew rapidly. A fire gutted the building in 1925, and only a portion of the loss was covered by insurance. The members expanded their ranks and rebuilt at the 500 Herndon location. The current Noel Memorial pastor is Flint Shea.^[36]

Holy Trinity Catholic Church, built in Romanesque revival style

The large Holy Trinity Catholic Church located downtown was founded in 1858. Five priests died of yellow fever in 1873. The current sanctuary in Romanesque revival style architecture dates to 1896.^[37]

A large First Baptist Church was once pastored by Monroe E. Dodd, an early radio minister and founder of the former Dodd College for Girls. Former Governor Jimmie Davis, a Shreveport city commissioner too, taught history for a year under Dodd's tutelage. Other large Baptist congregations include Calvary Baptist, Broadmoor Baptist, and Summer Grove Baptist. The last was previously pastored by Wayne L. DuBose, now a Baptist denominational officer. Westview Christian Church is an independent Christian church that serves the area as well with members from diverse denominational backgrounds.

Shreveport is home to Shreveport Community Church, an inter-denominational church belonging to the Assemblies of God.^[38][39] The congregation has experienced exponential growth from the 100 members in 1950 to the more than 6,000 it claims now. It is pastored by Denny Duron, who succeeded his father, Rodney Duron, after 45 years at the pulpit. The church has an education program in Evangel Christian Academy, a pre‑K through 12th grade private school that has produced an average of 1 million dollars of scholastic scholarships for its graduating seniors every year. The church has produced a biblical musical, "Songs of the Season", during the Christmas holidays for the past 20 years at the Historic Strand Theater in downtown Shreveport.

Particularly striking in size and architecture is St. Mark's Cathedral, an Episcopal congregation at 908 Rutherford Street in the Highland section of Shreveport. St. Mark's dates its establishment to the first religious service held in Shreveport in 1839.

The Jewish community dates to the organization of Congregation Har El in 1859, which later became B'nai Zion Temple, today the city's Reform congregation and largest synagogue. Agudath Achim, founded in 1905 as an Orthodox congregation, is today a traditional Jewish synagogue. Foster E. Kawaler, the current rabbi, is focused on rebuilding the congregation, which dwindled in size during the second half of the twentieth century. Shreveport, historically, has had a large and civic-minded Jewish community and has elected three Jewish mayors.^[40]

Sports

Dating back to 1911, the state fairgrounds (and later Independence Stadium, formerly State Fair Stadium) has traditionally hosted a college football game or two during the State Fair of Louisiana, an event currently dubbed the Red River State Fair Classic. Since 1976, Independence Stadium has served as host of college football's annual Independence Bowl.^[41] Also, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team occasionally hosts games at Independence Stadium. Shreveport was also home to a few now defunct football teams. The Houston franchise of the professional World Football League relocated to Shreveport rebranded as the Shreveport Steamer midway through the 1974 season, but the franchise along with the WFL folded midway through the 1975 season. Another franchise named the Shreveport Steamers played as a member of the American Football Association from 1979 until folding in 1981. Shreveport's Independence Stadium was also home to the Shreveport Pirates, an unsuccessful professional Canadian Football League franchise that opened play in 1994 but folded after the 1995 season.

Baseball in Shreveport has an extensive past. The city had affiliated Minor League Baseball teams from 1968 to 2002. The most memorable team was the Shreveport Captains of the Texas League. Baseball teams in Shreveport have gone through eight different name changes and seven different leagues all since 1895. Shreveport's most recent independent baseball team, the Shreveport-Bossier Captains, ceased operations in 2011 and moved to Laredo, Texas.

Shreveport is home to a few amateur sports clubs. The Shreveport Mudbugs are a Tier II junior ice hockey team that has competed in the North American Hockey League since 2016. Also playing their inaugural season in 2016, the Shreveport Rafters FC compete in the National Premier Soccer League, a fourth tier league. The Rafters FC has also expanded for 2017 to include the Shreveport Lady Rafters FC to compete in the Women's Premier Soccer League. The Centenary Gentlemen and Ladies compete in NCAA Division III as a member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The LSU–Shreveport Pilots compete in the NAIA as a member of the Red River Athletic Conference.

Visual and performing arts

Shreveport is home to several theatres, museums, and performing arts groups, including:

• Academy of Children's Theatre
• Artspace Shreveport
• Barnwell Memorial Garden and Art Center
• Hayride Diner/Soundstage 516
• Louisiana State Exhibit Museum
• Louisiana Dance Theatre
• Marjorie Lyons Playhouse on the Centenary College Campus
• Meadows Museum of Art – Centenary College
• Multicultural Center of the South
• "Once in a Millennium Moon" Mural by Meg Saligman
• Peter Pan Players, which closed its doors May 7, 2012, after thirty-nine years of theater.^[42]
• Power and Grace School of Performing Arts
• R. W. Norton Art Gallery
• River City Repertory Theatre, the professional theatre for Shreveport-Bossier
• RiverView Theatre
• Robinson Film Center
• Shreveport House Concerts www.shreveporthouseconcerts.org
• Shreveport Little Theatre www.shreveportlittletheatre.com
• Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet
• Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
• Shreveport Opera
• Shreveport Symphony Orchestra
• Southern University Museum of Art
• Spring Street Museum
• StageCenter Performing Arts
• The Strand Theatre
• Theatre of the Performing Arts of Shreveport

Events and tourism

Louisiana State Fair Grounds in 2015

• ArtBreak Festival, largest annual student arts festival in the South since 1984
• Barksdale Air Force Base Air Show, held annually since 1933
• Cinco De Mayo Fiesta, held annually since 1998
• Highland Jazz & Blues Festival, held annually the second Saturday of November since 2003
• Holiday in Dixie, annual springtime festival, began 1949
• Independence Bowl, held annually close to New Year's since 1976
• Independence Day Festival, held annually on the 4th of July since 2009
• Let the Good Times Roll Festival, annual Juneteenth festival since 1986
• Louisiana Film Prize, short film competition and film festival.
• Mardi Gras Parades
• Mudbug Madness, annual celebration of crawfish, held each May since 1984
• Red River Balloon Rally, annual summer festival since 2016
• Red River Revel, annual autumn arts festival which began in 1976, largest outdoor festival in northern Louisiana
• The State Fair of Louisiana, held annually each autumn since 1906

Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras celebrations in Shreveport date to the mid‑19th century when krewes and parades were organized along the lines of those of New Orleans. Mardi Gras in Shreveport did not survive the cancellations caused by World War I. Attempts to revive it in the 1920s were unsuccessful, and the last Carnival celebrations in Shreveport for decades were held in 1927. Mardi Gras in Shreveport was revived beginning in 1984 with the organization of the Krewe of Apollo. The Krewes of Gemini, Centaur, Aesclepius, Highland, Sobek, Harambee, and others, followed during the next decade and a half. The first krewe revive parading was Gemini in 1989. Today, Mardi Gras is again an important part of the cultural life of the Shreveport metropolitan area.^[43]

Recreation and attractions

• Barksdale Global Power Museum, Barksdale Air Force Base, Bossier City
• Chimp Haven, chimpanzee sanctuary, Keithville, LA (Shreveport suburb)
• Clyde Fant Park, along the Red River, named for Mayor Clyde Fant
• Cross Lake
• Ford Park on Cross Lake
• Gators and Friends, alligator and exotic animal park, Greenwood, LA (Shreveport suburb)
• The Gardens of the American Rose Center
• Hirsch Memorial Coliseum at Louisiana State Fairgrounds
• J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. Waterway Regional Visitor Center – History of Red River
• Mall St. Vincent
• Louisiana Boardwalk – Bossier City, opposite the Shreveport Central Business District
• Splash Kingdom Water Park
• Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, located in a landmark building at the State Fair Grounds
• Meadows Museum of Art
• Marlene Yu Museum
• Multicultural Center of the South
• Pioneer Heritage Center at Louisiana State University in Shreveport campus
• R. W. Norton Art Gallery and adjacent azalea park
• Red River National Wildlife Refuge
• Riverwalk Park
• Sci-Port – hands-on science center with IMAX Theater
• Shreveport Municipal Auditorium and Louisiana Hayride Museum
• Shreveport Water Works Museum
• Spirit of the Red River, river cruise boat
• Spring Street Historical Museum
• Touchstone Wildlife & Art Museum, Haughton in Bossier Parish
• Yogie and Friends Exotic Cat Sanctuary, Frierson, LA (Shreveport suburb)
• Shreveport Aquarium

Media/press

KSLA, CBS affiliate, is the oldest television station in Shreveport. Established in the former Washington Youree Hotel in 1954, it was moved to Fairfield Avenue in the early 1970s.

Shreveport is served by a variety of print publications. The major daily newspaper serving the Shreveport-Bossier and Ark-La-Tex area is the Shreveport Times. Its headquarters are located in downtown Shreveport near Interstate 20. A second major paper, the afternoon Shreveport Journal, ceased publication in 1991.

Other smaller non-daily newspapers in the area include The Shreveport Sun, the Caddo Citizen. Bossier City is served by the daily Bossier Press-Tribune. The Barksdale Warrior is the weekly newspaper of record for the Barksdale Air Force Base. In addition alternative publications include, The Forum Newsweekly, City Lights, SB Magazine and "The Shreveport Catalyst".

Twice annually, North Louisiana History, the journal of the North Louisiana Historical Association, is published in Shreveport.

Shreveport and Bossier City are served by two major cable television systems: Shreveport is served by Comcast and Bossier City is served by Suddenlink.

Shreveport is home to several radio stations, particularly KWKH and KEEL, having reputations beyond the city. The three commercial television outlets are KSLA, CBS, founded in 1954; KTBS-TV, ABC, founded in 1955, and KTAL-TV, arrived in Shreveport in September 1961 as the NBC station. KTBS was an NBC station, with occasional ABC programs, from 1955–1961, when it switched affiliation to ABC. KTAL, formerly known as KCMC of Texarkana, was a CBS outlet prior to conversion to NBC, when it began to cover Shreveport as well as Texarkana. Don Owen (1930–2012), a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission from 1984–2002, is also a former news anchorman on KSLA.

Shreveport/Bossier City is also the point of origination of internet radio station KHAM Radio which signed on in March 2011. The internet radio station is completely web-based and is not affiliated with any terrestrial radio station in the area.

Military installations

Barksdale Air Force Base is located in Bossier Parish across the river from Shreveport, which donated the land for its construction in the 1920s. Named for pioneer army aviator Lt. Eugene Hoy Barksdale and originally called Barksdale Army Air Field, it opened in 1933 and became Barksdale Air Force Base in 1947. Headquartered here are the Air Force Global Strike Command, 8th Air Force, 2d Bomb Wing, and 307th Wing. The primary aircraft housed here is the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. In earlier years, the base was the home to other famous aircraft, including the B-47 Stratojet.

Shreveport is home to the two 108th Cavalry Squadron, the reconnaissance element of the 256th Infantry Brigade. Three of the squadron's four cavalry troops are located at 400 East Stoner Avenue in a historic armory known as "Fort Humbug". This was named due to the Confederate Army burning logs to look like cannons and placing them along the Red River. This caused Union ironclad ships sailing north on the Red River to be tricked into turning back south.^[44]

Transportation

Highways and roads

Texas Street

Texas Avenue

Shreveport's past reflects the need for mass transit and public roads. As far back as the 1870s, residents used mule-drawn street cars that were converted to electric-motorized cars by 1890. Commuter rail systems in Shreveport flourished for many decades, and rail car lines extended out to rural areas. In 1930 trolleys and rail cars began to be replaced by buses, although motor buses did not finally replace all trolley service until the 1960s. In the 1960s, the Interstate Highway System came to the area with the construction of Interstate 20.

The local public transportation provider, SporTran, provides moderately extensive bus service throughout Shreveport and Bossier City. Sportran operates seven days a week on seventeen bus routes (five night routes) from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 am, with no night service on Sunday. The highway system has a cross-hair and loop freeway structure similar to that of Texas cities like Houston and Dallas. The loop consists of the Outer Loop Freeway Interstate 220 on the north and the Inner Loop Freeway, Louisiana Highway 3132, on the south, forming approximately an 8-mile-diameter (13 km) semi-loop around downtown. Another loop is formed by the Bert Kouns Industrial Loop (Louisiana Highway 526) and circles further south bisecting Interstate 49. Interstate 49 now extends north to Interstate 30 in Arkansas.

Shreveport lies along the route of the proposed Interstate 69 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) superhighway that will link Canada, the U.S. industrial Midwest, Texas, and Mexico.

Airports

Shreveport is served by two airports. The larger is Shreveport Regional Airport (SHV), established in 1952, and is served by Allegiant Air (to Las Vegas and Orlando), American Airlines (to Dallas/Ft. Worth), Delta Air Lines (to Atlanta), GLO Airlines (to New Orleans), and United Airlines (as United Express) (to Houston and Denver). The smaller airport, Shreveport Downtown Airport (DTN), was built in 1931 and is located north of the Downtown Business District along the Red River. It is currently a general aviation/reliever airport, but was originally Shreveport's commercial airport.

Notable people

See also

• Houston E. & W. T. Ry. Co. v. United States, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court commerce clause ruling commonly known as "The Shreveport Rate Cases"
• Mighty Haag Circus

References

External links

• City of Shreveport official website
• National Weather Service Shreveport office
• Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau
• Shreveport/Bossier webpage
• The Times newspaper
• www.Shreveport.com