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 theTexas Trail, an overland route into the newly independentRepublic of Texas.[8] It grew throughout the 20th century and, after the discovery of oil in Louisiana, became a national center for the oil industry.Standard Oil of Louisiana andUnited Gas Corporation were headquartered in the city until the 1960s and 1980s, respectively. After the loss of jobs in the oil industry, the closure ofGeneral Motors'Shreveport Operations, and other economic problems, it struggled with a declining population, poverty, drugs, and violent crime.[9] The city continues in its efforts to revitalize its infrastructure,[10][11][12] revive the economy through diversification,[13][14][15] and lower crime.[16][17]
Shreveport was established to create a town at the meeting point of the Brown Bricks and the Texas Trail. The Red River was made navigable by CaptainHenry Miller Shreve, who led theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers efforts to clear the Red River. A 180-mile-long (290 km) natural log jam, theGreat Raft, had previously obstructed passage to shipping. Shreve used a specially modifiedriverboat, theHeliopolis, to remove the log jam. The company and the village of Shreve Town were named in Shreve's honor.[23]
Shreve Town was originally contained within the boundaries of a piece of land sold to the company in 1835 by the indigenousCaddo Indians. In 1838Caddo Parish was created from the largeNatchitoches 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 ofsteamboat commerce, carrying mostly cotton and agricultural crops from the plantations of Caddo Parish. Shreveport also had aslave market, though slave trading was not as widespread as in other parts of the state. Steamboats plied the Red River, andstevedores loaded and unloaded cargo. By 1860, Shreveport had a population of 2,200 free people and 1,300 enslaved people within the city limits.
During theAmerican Civil War, Shreveport was the capital of Louisiana from 1863 to 1865, having succeededBaton Rouge andOpelousas after each fell underUnion control. The city was aConfederate stronghold throughout the war and was the site of the headquarters of theTrans-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 in the 21st century.
Isolated from events in the east, the Civil War continued in the Trans-Mississippi theater for several weeks afterRobert E. Lee's surrender in April 1865, and the Trans-Mississippi was the last Confederate command to surrender, on May 26, 1865. "The period May 13–21, 1865, was filled with great uncertainly after soldiers learned of the surrenders of Lee and Johnston, the Good Friday assassination of PresidentAbraham Lincoln and the rapid departure of their own generals."[24] In the confusion there was a breakdown of military discipline and rioting by soldiers. They destroyed buildings containing service records, a loss that later made it difficult for many to gain Confederate pensions from state governments.[24]
The Red River, opened by Shreve in the 1830s, remained navigable throughout the Civil War. But seasonal water levels got so low at one point that UnionAdmiralDavid Dixon Porter was trapped with his gunboats north ofAlexandria. His engineers quickly constructed a temporary dam to raise the water level and free his fleet.
In 1873, Shreveport lost 759 citizens in an 80-day period to ayellow fever epidemic, with over 400 additional victims eventually succumbing. The total death toll from August through November was approximately 1,200.[25][26] In aggregate it is estimated that around one quarter of the population of Shreveport was lost, making it one of the deadliest local epidemics in American history. Around 800 were interred in a mass grave at Oakland Cemetery.[27] Five Roman Catholic priests in the city and two religious sisters died while caring for yellow fever victims in the city.[28]
Providence Academy was established for African American students in the city.[29]
Greenwood Cemetery was established in 1893. A number of local African American musicians became nationally famous. By the 1910s,Huddie William Ledbetter—also known as "Lead Belly", ablues singer and guitarist—was performing for Shreveport audiences in St. Paul's Bottoms, the notablered-light district of Shreveport that operated legally from 1903 to 1917. Ledbetter began to develop his own style of music after exposure to a variety of musical influences on Fannin Street, a row of saloons,brothels, and dance halls in the Bottoms. BluesmenJesse Thomas,Dave Alexander, andKenny Wayne Shepherd, and the earlyjazz andragtime composers Bill Wray and Willian Christopher O'Hare were all from Shreveport. Lead Belly achieved international fame.
By 1914, neglect and lack of use, due to diversion of freight traffic to railroad lines, resulted in the Red River becoming unnavigable. In projects accomplished over decades, in 1994, theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers restored navigability by completion of a series of federally funded lock-and-dam structures and a navigation channel.
As early as 1924, the citizens of Shreveport became interested in hosting a military flying field. In 1926, Shreveport citizens learned that the 3rd Attack Wing stationed atFort Crockett, Texas, would be enlarged by 500 percent and would require at least 20,000 acres (81 km2) to support aerial gunnery and a bombing range. The efforts to procure the government's commitment to build the facility in the Greater Shreveport metropolitan area were spearheaded by a committee co-chaired by local civic leaders Andrew Querbes andJohn D. Ewing, beginning in 1927. It took a great deal of correspondence between the interested parties and the original proposal was rejected. However, in February 1928, a young crop duster, an Air Corps captain named Harold Ross Harris, was hired to fly over the local area in order to find a suitable site for the airfield.
Captain Harris selected what he felt was an adequate location for a military airfield. It was a sprawling section of cotton plantation near Bossier City. The site selection committee, representing the wealthiest taxpayers in the city, unanimously agreed upon the Barksdale Field location. A delegation of citizens traveled toWashington, D.C., to personally present the advantages of the proposed site to theWar Department. Following the return of this delegation, a special army board visited Shreveport and reported the location met all requirements of the Air Corps.
The site was selected December 5, 1928, as the location of the airfield. The land in Bossier Parish on which the airfield was built was unincorporated land near Bossier City that was annexed by the city of Shreveport once the site had been selected among 80 candidates. The real estate was purchased from over 800 property owners via a $1,500,000municipal bond issue approved by Shreveport voters in 1929 in fulfillment of the pledge that the citizens of Shreveport made to the U.S. government. The last of these bonds matured on December 31, 1959. After acquisition, Shreveport then donated the land to the federal government per their agreement, while the federal government assumed all the costs of building construction and equipment installation. Shreveport had originally proposed a site adjacent toCross Lake, but the United States Department of War deemed this location inappropriate due to the lack of suitable terrain for the facility's future expansion. Subsequent to the establishment of the military installation, Bossier City grew and expanded southward and eastward, eventually enveloping the area surrounding the base. Technically,Barksdale AFB is neither in Bossier City nor Shreveport but, like all military bases, is an autonomous community with its own infrastructure.[30]
In September, 1941, the capture of the city of Shreveport was the objective of a U.S. Army war game, ormilitary exercise, known as theLouisiana Maneuvers. The field exercise's mission was accomplished largely due to GeneralGeorge S. Patton, who commanded the mock "Blue" army's 2nd Armored Division.[31]
Shreveport was home to theLouisiana Hayride radio program, broadcast weekly from theShreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium. During its heyday from 1948 to 1960, this program stimulated the careers of some of the greatest figures in American music. TheHayride featured musicians includingHank Williams andElvis Presley, who made his broadcasting debut at this venue. In the mid-1950s,KWKH was the first major radio station to feature the music of Presley on its long-runningLouisiana Hayride program at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. Horace Logan, long-term KWKH program manager and originator of theHayride, and Frank Page introduced Presley on theHayride.
African American veterans of World War II were among activists in Shreveport through the 1960s who worked in thecivil rights movement to correct injustices underJim Crow anddisenfranchisement of blacks. While activism gradually increased, 1963 was a particularly violent year in Shreveport because of white resistance. The Shreveport home of Dr. C. O. Simpkins was bombed in retaliation for his work with Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.[32][33]
In September 1963George W. D'Artois, Public Service Commissioner, refused a permit for a march to the Little Union Baptist Church in Shreveport, where mourners gathered to honor and commemorate four black girls killed in the16th Street Baptist Church Bombing on September 15 inBirmingham, Alabama. D'Artois and other officers entered the church on horseback and took out the pastor, Dr. Harry Blake, beating him severely.[32][34]
Also in 1963, headlines across the country reported that African American musicianSam Cooke was arrested in Shreveport after his band tried to register at a "whites-only"Holiday Inn, where they planned to stay before performing in the city. Public facilities in Louisiana were still segregated.[35] In the months following, Cooke recorded the civil rights era song, "A Change Is Gonna Come". In 1964 Congress passed theCivil Rights Act to end segregation of public facilities.
In the mid-1990s, the coming ofriverboat gambling to Shreveport attracted numerous new patrons to the downtown and spurred a revitalization of the adjacent riverfront areas. Many downtown streets were given a facelift through the "Streetscape" project. Traditional brick sidewalks and crosswalks were built, and statues, sculptures, andmosaics were added to create a better pedestrian environment. The O.K. Allen Bridge, commonly known as theTexas Street bridge, was lit withneon lights. Residents predictably had a variety of reactions to these changes.[36] Shreveport was named anAll-American City in 1953, 1979, and 1999.[37]
In the 1990s, Shreveport became known for its rap music scene, and acquired its famous aka name,Ratchet City.[38] The term was first used by the group Lava House in its 1999 single "Ratchet".[38]
Since the downturn in the oil industry and other economic problems, the city has struggled with a declining population, unemployment, poverty, drugs and violent crime.[9] City data from 2017 showed a dramatic increase in certain violent crimes from the previous year, including a 138 percent increase in homicides, a 21 percent increase in forcible rapes and more than 130 percent increases in both business armed robberies and business burglaries.[9] In 2018 the local government and police authorities reported acrime drop in most categories; it was part of an overall reduction in crime since the late 20th century.[16] As Shreveport continued its economic resurgence,[11][14] theAdrian Perkins administration saw the coming of Advanced Aero Services,[15] Tomakk Glass Partners,[40] and the revitalization plan of the Shreveport Economic Recovery Task Force after the Cross Bayou redevelopment plan was rejected.[41][42]
In June 2020, rapperHurricane Chris was arrested in Shreveport forsecond-degree murder.[43] Following theGeorge Floyd killing in Minnesota, multiple protests were held in the city.[44][45] The city experienced the largest number of homicides in its recorded history in 2021, eclipsing the previous record set in 1993.[46]
Shreveport is the parish seat ofCaddo Parish. Portions of the city extend into neighboringBossier Parish, borderingBossier City. Shreveport sits on a low elevation overlooking the Red River.[57] Western and northern portions of Shreveport have an elevation over 253 feet (77 m) above sea level.[58]Pine forests,cotton fields,wetlands, andwaterways mark the outskirts of the city. According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 123.396 square miles (319.59 km2), of which, 107.798 square miles (279.20 km2) is land and 15.548 square miles (40.27 km2) is water.[59]
TheLong-Allen Bridge (also known as the Texas Street Bridge) connects Shreveport and Bossier City.
Shreveport—since the mid-1990s—has been a major gambling center with a modest downtown skyline. The "Streetscape" project, inspired by the coming of riverboat gaming, gave Shreveport's downtown traditional brick sidewalks, statues, sculptures, and mosaics. The O.K. Allen Bridge (Texas Street bridge) was lit with neon lights. Since then, Downtown Shreveport has seen minor changes until the 2010s; the whole of Shreveport has been improving roads since the mid-2010s, with continued road projects in 2018.[60] In 2018, buildings in Shreveport's downtown and nearby districts were revitalized due to re-investment in the area.[11][13] In 2020, plans were unveiled for the I-49 Connector and further redevelopment of the city.[41]
View of Downtown ShreveportPine Wold house (Fairfield Avenue at Kirby Street) was designed byEdward F. Neild, who created some of the designs for the interior of theWhite House in theTruman administration, as well as theHarry 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.A.C. Steere School, expanded in 1938, is named for Albert Coldwell Steere,developer and founder of the Broadmoor neighborhood; the institution was added in 1991 to theNational Register of Historic Places. It was designed byEdward F. Neild of Shreveport.
Shreveport encompasses many areas, neighborhoods, and districts. The busiest thoroughfares and areas of Shreveport are the Youree Drive area (named forPeter Youree), the Shreveport Downtown Riverfront, and Highland neighborhood. All of the busiest areas are located in Eastern Shreveport, nearby or along the Red River. Below is a list of areas in the Shreveport area of Caddo Parish:
Robinson Place in Shreveport, former home of physician and developer George W. Robinson; later the residence of Douglas and Lucille Lee, owners of Lee Hardware Company
Historic residence of late LouisianaLieutenant Governor Thomas Charles Barret at Fairfield and Prospect
Walker House on Fairfield Avenue was once the home of theCoca-Cola bottler Zehntner Biedenharn.
Bliss-Hoyer House, built by Abel and Nettie Bliss, was later the home of Ewald Max Hoyer, the first mayor ofBossier City, who continued to reside in Shreveport.
Shreveport has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classificationCfa). Rainfall is abundant, with the normal annual precipitation averaging over 51 inches (1,300 mm), 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 andtornadoes 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 andsleet storms possible.
Summer months are hot and humid, with maximum temperatures exceeding 90 °F (32 °C) on an average of 91 days per year, with high to very high relative average humidity. The extreme temperatures range from −5 °F (−21 °C) onFebruary 12, 1899,[61] to 110 °F (43 °C) on August 18, 1909, and August 25 and 26, 2023.[61] Shreveport is home to a branch of theNational Weather Service which provides forecasts and warnings for the greaterArk-La-Tex region.
Shreveport's population was initially 1,728 at the1850 U.S. census, and has experienced growth to a historic high of 206,989 at the1980 census. According to the2020 United States census, there were 187,593 people, 73,114 households, and 42,775 families residing in the city; the 2020American Community Survey determined an estimated 189,890 people resided in the city, purporting a slight population rebound.[67] The 2020 census estimates showed Shreveport had 75,680 households with an average of 2.4 people per household. Of the households, 39% were married-couple households, though 44% of its male population and 40% of its female population have never married.
Throughout the city, there were 89,523 housing units, with an 85% occupancy rate; among them, 54% were owner-occupied. Among its units, 73% were single-unit detached homes and 31% of its population moved into those homes from 2015 to 2016. The median value of its owner-occupied housing units were $151,700, and 30% of its units were estimated to be under $100,000; 38% of its units were estimated to cost from $100,000 to $200,000.[67] From 2014 to 2018, the median value of an owner-occupied housing unit was $144,800. The median monthly cost with a mortgage was $1,178 and the median monthly cost without a mortgage was $364; the city of Shreveport had a median gross rent of $810.
The median income from 2014 to 2018 was $36,338, and the mean income was $55,582.[68] The per capita income was $25,022. By the 2020 American Community Survey, its median household income increased to $40,809.[69] The median income for families grew to $54,023 with a mean income of $82,854; married-couple families $84,282 with a mean of $112,363; and non-family households $26,628 with a mean of $41,090.[70] According to census estimates, 25% of its population earned from $50,000 to $100,000 annually; 13% $100,000 to $200,000; and 5% over $200,000. Approximately 24.9% of Shreveport lived at or below the poverty line, down from 2014 to 2018's census estimates of 25.4%.[71]
Shreveport city, Louisiana – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
Reflecting the decline in North Louisiana's population,[76] the city of Shreveport's racial and ethnic makeup among Hispanic and Latino Americans declined from 2010 yet rebounded from 2019's census estimates.[77] At the 2020 census, Shreveport remained a predominantly Black and African American city, with 55.77% of the population identifying as such; non-Hispanic whites slightly declined to 35.26% and multiracial or Americans of another race increased to 3.45% of the population. Data from the 2020 United States census reflected growing trends of Hispanic and Latino, and Asian American population growth nationwide.[78]
Of note among its predominantly Baptist population, the First Baptist Church of Shreveport was once pastored by Monroe E. Dodd, founder of the formerDodd College for Girls.[84] FormerGovernorJimmie Davis, also a Shreveport city commissioner, taught history for a year under Dodd. Other historic large Baptist churches includeAntioch Baptist, Galilee Missionary Baptist, Calvary Baptist, Broadmoor Baptist, Summer Grove Baptist, and Mount Canaan Missionary Baptist Church. Summer Grove Baptist Church was previously pastored by Wayne L. DuBose, a Baptist denominational officer.[85] Mount Canaan was previously pastored by civil rights era icon Dr. Harry Blake,[86][87] and Galilee was likewise pastored by Dr. E. Edward Jones, another civil rights icon.[88]
Among its Methodist churches has been the largeFirst Methodist Church, established in 1884. The current edifice dates to 1913. Among its former pastors were D. L. Dykes Jr. and John E. Fellers. During a severe thunderstorm in 2009, the fiberglass steeple of the church toppled and fell onto a passing car.[89][90] It has since been replaced. A second prominent Methodist congregation is named for J. S. Noel Jr.[91] The church was begun as a mission in 1906. In 2023, First United Methodist voted to leave the United Methodist Church.[92]
In Shreveport's interdenominational and Pentecostal population, Shreveport Community Church (anevangelical church affiliated withAssemblies of God USA)[96][97] owns and operatesEvangel Christian Academy, a pre‑K through 12th grade private school. The church has produced a biblical musical,Songs of the Season, during the Christmas holidays for over 20 years.[98][99]
TheJewish community of Shreveport dates to the organization of Congregation Har El in 1859, made up primarily ofGerman Jewish immigrants in its early years. It developed asB'nai Zion Temple, today the city'sReform congregation, which built the city's largest synagogue. Agudath Achim, founded in 1905 as anOrthodox congregation of immigrants from Eastern Europe, is today a traditional Jewish synagogue. Shreveport, historically, has had a large and civic-minded Jewish community and has elected three Jewish mayors.[102]
TheIslamic community in Shreveport-Bossier constituted approximately 14% of Louisiana's total Muslim population in 2018.[103] The majority of Shreveporter Muslims areSunni, followed by theNation of Islam andnon-denominational Islam.
Regions Tower, the tallest building in downtown ShreveportHealth care is a major industry in Shreveport; Christus Schumpert Medical Center is the secondary leading cancer-treatment facility in the South, behind Willis Knighton.The Shreveport Convention Center
Shreveport was formerly a major player in United States oil business, and once hosted theStandard Oil of Louisiana offices, a branch ofStandard Oil. The Louisiana branch was later absorbed byStandard Oil of New Jersey. Beginning in 1930,United Gas Corporation, the nation's busiest pipeline operator and massive integrated oil company, was headquartered in Shreveport.Pennzoil performed ahostile takeover in 1968, and forced a merger. In the 1980s, the oil and gas industry suffered a large economic downturn. This severely affected the regional economy, 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. Shreveport's economy entered a major economic recession, and many residents left the area.
At one time, Shreveport was home to numerous manufacturers, includingShreveport Operations, aGeneral Motors plant that permanently closed in August 2012. The plant produced theChevrolet Colorado,GMC Canyon, Hummer H3 series, and theIsuzu i-Series.[104] In January 2013, the plant was leased from Caddo Parish byElio Motors.[105] However, Elio Motors never went into production at the Shreveport plant.
In addition to GM, other notable large companies that have had or still have Shreveport manufacturing/assembly or production facilities or operations include:General Electric (electric transformer production),Western Electric (payphone manufacturing, approximately 7,500 employees at its peak, changed ownership through the years but closed in 2001)[106]Honeywell UOP,Libbey-Owens-Ford,Beaird-Poulan (the originator of and, for decades, the only manufacturer of the single-operatorchainsaw in the world),[107]Calumet Specialty Products Partners (originallyUnited Gas Corporation's Atlas Processing Unit and thenPennzoil), and Frymaster, LLC (a subsidiary ofThe Manitowoc Company). Today, only Calumet Packaging and Honeywell UOP survive as a large manufacturing employer in Shreveport.
By 2017, manufacturing and other goods-producing (e.g. petrochemical refining) jobs accounted for just 5% of Shreveport occupations, compared to 8% for the nationwide percentage of the workforce involved in manufacturing.[108][109]
Shreveport has since largely transitioned to a service economy. In particular, there has been rapid growth in the gaming industry. The city hosts various riverboat gamblingcasinos, and, beforeHurricane Katrina in 2005, was second only toNew Orleans in Louisiana tourism. NearbyBossier City is home to one of the three horse racetracks in the state,Louisiana Downs. Casinos in Shreveport-Bossier includeSam's Town,Bally's,Horseshoe,Boomtown, andMargaritaville. Diamond Jacks Casino (formerly Isle of Capri) closed in 2020.[110][111] 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, theLouisiana Boardwalk, a 550,000-square-foot (51,000 m2) shopping and entertainment complex, opened in Bossier City across from Shreveport's downtown. It features outlet shopping, several restaurants, a 14‑screen movie theater, a bowling complex, andBass Pro Shops.
A 350,000-square-foot (33,000 m2) convention center was completed in the Shreveport Downtown Riverfront. Managed bySMG, it includes an 800-space parking garage. An adjoining Hilton Hotel opened in June 2007. It was constructed by and owned by the city, which has been a controversial issue, and the subject of discussions about use of public funds.
In November 2008, development of theHaynesville Shale area, with new jobs in the natural gas industry were expected to be created over the next few years. Residents in the region have been given large bonuses for signing mineral rights leases up to $25,000 per acre. However, economic downturn had resulted in a lower market price for natural gas and slower-than-expected drilling activity. The city expected to generate revenue by leasing the mineral rights on public lands in the near future as neighboring municipalities had already done. However, with advances in fracking methods in the Haynesville shale and starting in 2022 with the increase of natural gas prices after Covid to as high as $8/Mcf (thousand cubic feet), rig activity has greatly increased in the Haynesville to be the 2nd largest basin in the United States by number of active drilling rigs (2nd only to the Permian Basin - largest basin in the United States). It has since slowed to a degree since natural gas prices have decreased but is still the 3rd highest ranked basin in the US in terms of number of active drilling rigs.
Gambling and hotel industries in Shreveport,JPMorgan Chase,Capital One, andRegions Financial Corporation have regional offices in Shreveport's downtown and surrounding districts and neighborhoods. AT&T's regional headquarters is located in Downtown Shreveport.Amazon andGovernor Edwards announced plans to open a fulfillment center in 2021.[112][113]
Amazon began construction on the $200 million fulfillment center in 2021 with completion expected by the end of 2022. The fulfillment center was expected to create 1,000 direct jobs.[114] Additionally, other business investments alongside Amazon during the early 2020s contributed more than $750 million to revitalizing and expanding the municipal and metropolitan economy.[115] By October 2023, Amazon planned to open a second facility in Shreveport.[116][117]
In December 2023, the city council approved a lease of Millennium Studios to rapper50 Cent's new production company.[118][119][120][121]
In 2014, the city government pumped $16.5 million intoMall St. Vincent in an attempt to attract new customers to the mall.[122] However, by 2021, Auntie Anne's, Gymboree,Grimaldi's Pizzeria, and Sears had closed their Mall St. Vincent operations, leaving Dilliards as the only anchor store.[123]
Fortune magazine ranked Shreveport the "#1 place to start a business" in 2015.[124] In 2020, Advanced Aero Services planned to open a facility at Shreveport Regional Airport,[15][14] while employer Libbey Glass closed its doors for good after 47 years of operation, resulting in the loss of 450 jobs.[125] On July 31, 2020, the Shreveport Economic Recovery Task Force released a revitalization plan with a primary focus on the downtown area.[41]
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".[126] A number of films have been made in Shreveport. Facilities includesound stages,prop rental facilities, the Fairgrounds Complex, and the Louisiana Wave Studio, a computer-controlled outdoorwave pool.[127]
Several television series have been shot in Shreveport and the surrounding area, includingThe Gates (2010), andSalem (2014). TheLouisiana 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.
As of 2023, G-Unit Film and Television, which has recently undergone renovations, serves as the primary filming location for projects involving 50 Cent. Additionally, it also operates as the creative center for the entertainment and film industry within Northwest Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex.[128]
Mardi Gras celebrations in Shreveport date to the mid‑19th century whenkrewes and parades were organized along the lines of those of New Orleans. Mardi Gras in Shreveport did not survive the cancellations caused byWorld 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[clarification needed] to revive parading was Gemini in 1989. Today, Mardi Gras is again an important part of the cultural life of the Shreveport-Bossier metropolitan area.[137]
Dating back to 1911, the state fairgrounds (and laterIndependence Stadium, formerly State Fair Stadium) has traditionally hosted a college football game or two during the State Fair of Louisiana, an event currently dubbed theRed River State Fair Classic. Since 1976, Independence Stadium has served as host of college football's annualIndependence Bowl.[138] Also, theLouisiana Tech Bulldogs football team occasionally hosts games at Independence Stadium.
Shreveport has been home to several professional football teams. The Houston franchise of the professionalWorld Football League relocated to Shreveport rebranded as theShreveport Steamer midway through the 1974 season, but the franchise along with the WFL folded midway through the 1975 season. Another franchise named theShreveport Steamers played as a member of theAmerican Football Association from 1979 until folding in 1981. Shreveport's Independence Stadium was also home to theShreveport Pirates, an unsuccessful professionalCanadian Football League franchise that opened play in 1994 but folded after the 1995 season.
Baseball in Shreveport has an extensive history. The city had affiliatedMinor League Baseball teams from 1968 to 2002. The most memorable team was theShreveport Captains of theTexas League. Baseball teams in Shreveport have gone through eight different name changes and seven different leagues all since 1895. Shreveport's most recent independent minor league baseball team, theShreveport-Bossier Captains, ceased operations in 2011 and moved toLaredo, Texas.
Founded in 1836 and incorporated in 1839, Shreveport is the parish seat ofCaddo 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 intoBossier Parish due to the changing course of theRed River.
The city of Shreveport has amayor-council government. The elected municipal officials include themayor,Tom Arceneaux, and seven members of thecity council. Cedric Glover, a member of theLouisiana House of Representatives, was the first African American to hold the mayoral position.[144][145] 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 andordinances are enforced.
According to the most recent FBI statistics, the total crime rate in Shreveport is 5,722.4 per 100,000 people, or 143.92% higher than the national rate of 2,346.0 per 100,000 people and 62.39% higher than the Louisiana total crime rate of 3,523.8 per 100,000 people.[146] The violent crime rate in Shreveport is 923.0 per 100,000 people, or 138.01% higher than the national rate of 387.8 per 100,000 people, and 44.35% higher than the Louisiana violent crime rate of 639.4 per 100,000 people.[146]
Shreveport has one of the highest crime rates inAmerica compared to all communities of all sizes. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime is 1 in 15. Within Louisiana, more than 93% of the communities had a lower crime rate than Shreveport.NeighborhoodScout found Shreveport to be one of the top 100 most dangerous cities in the United States.[147] Shreveport was the first city inLouisiana to haveCrips andBlood gangs.[148][149] In 1993, Shreveport hit a peak in murders, with 86 killings. Most of the killings were drug- or gang-related homicides.[150] In 2017, Shreveport was placed 18th on24/7 Wall St.'s list of "America's 25 Murder Capitals."[151] Shreveport's crime rate was 71% higher than the Louisiana average. The crime rate was also 149% higher than the national average.[152]
The city had a so-called"saggy pants" law since 2007.[153] The city ordinance was repealed by the city council in June 2019.[154]
Caddo Public Schools is aschool district based in Shreveport.[155] The district serves all of Caddo Parish, including the parish's sections of Shreveport.[156] Its founding superintendent wasClifton Ellis Byrd, aVirginia 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 Kings Highway, bears his name. There are a number of private schools in the city as well, includingLoyola College Prep, a coeducational high school founded in 1902 as the all-male St. John's High School.
Ayers Career College is a Shreveport-based college that offers career training in the medical andHVAC fields.[160] Since July 2007, Shreveport is home to a localRemington College campus. This location offers both diploma and degree programs, and is active in the Shreveport community.[161]Virginia College opened in 2012. Located in Shreveport-Bossier City, it offers career training in areas such as business and office, health and medical, and medical billing.[162]
KSLA, aCBS 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 and its surrounding area are served by a variety of local newspapers, magazines, television stations and radio stations. The major daily newspaper serving the area isThe Shreveport Times, owned byUSA Today parentGannett. The newspaper's former rival, the afternoonShreveport Journal, ceased publication in 1991. Other major newspapers includeThe Shreveport Sun,Caddo Citizen, andSB Magazine.The Shreveport Sun is the area's primaryAfrican American newspaper.[163]
Across the Red River, Shreveport's sister city of Bossier City is served by the dailyBossier Press-Tribune.The Barksdale Warrior is the weekly newspaper of record for theBarksdale Air Force Base. Alternative publications includeThe Forum Newsweekly,City Lights,The Inquisitor andThe Shreveport Catalyst. Twice annually,North Louisiana History, the journal of the North Louisiana Historical Association, is published in Shreveport.
Shreveport and Bossier City are primarily served by two major cable television and internet companies: Shreveport is served byComcast and Bossier City is served bySuddenlink.
Shreveport's past reflects the need for mass transit and public roads. As far back as the 1870s, residents usedmule-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, theInterstate Highway System came to the area with the construction ofInterstate 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 ofTexas cities likeHouston andDallas. The loop consists of the Outer Loop FreewayInterstate 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, crossingInterstate 49. I-49 now extends north toInterstate 30 inArkansas, though there is a gap in I-49 within Shreveport.
Shreveport is served by two airports. The larger isShreveport Regional Airport (SHV), established in 1952, and is served byAllegiant Air,American Airlines,Delta Air Lines, andUnited Airlines (as United Express). 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 and reliever airport, but was originally Shreveport's commercial airport.
Texas & Pacific Station at 104 Market Street served theTexas and Pacific Railway. Its last trains were unnamed successors to theLouisiana Eagle (Fort Worth-New Orleans) and theLouisiana Daylight. (El Paso-New Orleans)[165][166]
Barksdale Air Force Base is located inBossier Parish across the river from Shreveport, which annexed and 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 theAir Force Global Strike Command, 8th Air Force, 2d Bomb Wing, and 307th Wing. The primary aircraft housed here is the BoeingB-52 Stratofortress. In earlier years, the base was the home to other famous aircraft, including theB-47 Stratojet.
Shreveport is home to the two108th Cavalry Squadrons, the reconnaissance element of the256th 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". It got the name 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.[167]
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^"Station: Shreveport, LA".U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. RetrievedAugust 19, 2021.
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