Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana is the third largest city and the third largest
metropolitan area in the
U.S. state of
Louisiana. It is in
Caddo Parish. As of 2004, the city's population given by the
U.S. Census Bureau was 198,675, a decline from 2000 census levels.
Bossier City lies across the
Red River in
Bossier Parish and the Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Area population exceeds 375,000.
Shreveport is the commercial and cultural center of the
Ark-La-Tex, the area where
Arkansas,
Louisiana, and
Texas meet. Some call it the "Gateway to
East Texas;" others claim that Shreveport sits on the border between the
South and the
West. The city exercises a great pull over this region. A good example of this is that people in East Texas watch and donate money to the Louisiana
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) because no PBS station exists in northeast Texas. Many people in the community refer to the two cities of Shreveport and Bossier City, which are separated only by the Red River, as "Shreveport-Bossier". In fact, they share an
af2 arena football team, the
Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings, as well as a
Central Hockey League team, the
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. The area is the intersection of three
Interstate Highways:
I-20,
I-49,
I-220 (loop). Shreveport is also the proposed hub for
I-69 (NAFTA Highway) connecting the area to
Houston, Texas, and
Memphis, Tennessee.
The town was founded in 1836 by the
Shreve Town Company, a development corporation established to start 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 commanded the
United States Army Corps of Engineers. A 180-
mile (289
km) long logjam, the
Great Raft, had previously clogged passage by Shreve's
riverboat, the
Heliopolis, that was specially designed to remove river debris. The company and the village of Shreve Town were named in Shreve's honor.
Shreve Town was originally contained within the boundaries of a section of land sold to the company by the indigenous
Caddo Indians in the year of 1835. In 1838, Caddo Parish was created from the large
Natchitoches (pronounced "NACK-a-dish") Parish and Shreve Town became the parish seat. Shreveport remains the
parish seat of Caddo Parish today. 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. Both slaves and freedmen worked on the river steamboats which plied the Red River, and as stevedores loading and unloading cargo. By 1860, Shreveport had a free population of 2,200 and 1,300 slaves within the city limits.
During the Civil War, Shreveport was a Confederate stronghold and the headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate Army. Isolated from events in the east, the Civil War continued in the Trans-Mississippi theater for several months after Robert E. Lee's surrender in April 1865, and Shreveport briefly became the Confederate capital. Confederate President Jefferson Davis attempted to flee to Shreveport when he left Richmond.
Shreveport and Bossier City have six historic districts and numerous NR listed landmarks. The original 64-block town is today the city's central business district and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. Shreveport is second only to
New Orleans among Louisiana cities in the number of historic landmarks. In particular, the
McNeill Street Pumping Station, an 1887
waterworks that is still in use, is a unique example of its type. Also located near Shreveport is
Barksdale Air Force Base, opened in 1933 as Barksdale Army Air Field. It came into national attention recently when
President George W. Bush was taken there during the
September 11, 2001 attacks. It also came into national attention when
B-52 bombers based there participated in
Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and
Operation Iraqi Freedom. Their attacks on fixed hard targets and the famed
Iraqi Republican Guard Medina Division using state of the art
JDAM's and other munitions marked a new era in U.S. air power where precision guided munitions were used more than "dumb" bombs with devastating effect (
see Shock and Awe).
The Red River, opened by Shreve in the 1830s, remained navigable until 1914 when disuse, owing to the rise of the
railroad as the preferred means of transporting goods and people, allowed it to begin silting up. Not until the 1990's was navigation of the river again possible to Shreveport. Today the port of Shreveport-Bossier City is being developed once again as a shipping center.
Shreveport's most famous musician, legendary blues guitarist and singer Huddie William Leadbetter, aka 'Leadbelly', who inspired the folk and blues revivals of the Fifties and Sixties, was born January 15, 1888, on the Jeter Plantation near Shreveport. Leadbelly frequently performed in Shreveport's red light district, and after his death in 1949 while on tour in Europe, was buried in the community of Mooringsport, just north of Shreveport.
Shreveport was also home to the
Louisiana Hayride, a radio broadcast from the city's Municipal Auditorium that, during its heyday from 1948 to 1960, spawned the careers of the some of the greatest names in American music. The Hayride boasted names such as
Hank Williams Sr. and
Elvis Presley (who got his start at this venue).
|
Downtown Shreveport at night. |
The coming of
riverboat gambling in the mid 1990s spurred a revitalization of the downtown and riverfront areas. Many downtown streets were given a facelift through the "Streetscape" project, where brick sidewalks and crosswalks were built and various artistic statues, sculptures, and mosaics were added. Also, the Texas Street Bridge was lit up with controversial neon lights, originally accompanied by a green laser beam which was eventually abandoned.
Shreveport is located at (32.468003, -93.771115). According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 305.1
km² (117.8
mi²). 267.1 km² (103.1 mi²) of it is land and 37.9 km² (14.6 mi²) of it (12.44%) is water.
The climate of Shreveport is transitional between the subtropical/humid conditions prevalent in the deep south and the continental climates of the Great Plains and Middle West. Rainfall is abundant with the normal annual rain just over 51 inches, with monthly averages ranging less than 3 inches in August to more than 5 inches in May and June. The winter months are normally mild with an average of 39 days of freezing or below-freezing temperatures per year, though ice and sleet storms do occur. Summer months are very warm and humid, with maximum temperatures exceeding 95 degrees about 32 days per year, with high to very high relative average humidity sometimes exceeding the 90 per cent level.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 200,145 people, 78,662 households, and 50,422 families residing in the city limits. The
population density was 749.2/km² (1,940.5/mi²). There were 86,802 housing units at an average density of 324.9/km² (841.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 50.80%
African American, 46.66%
White, 0.79%
Asian, 0.31%
Native American, 0.03%
Pacific Islander, 0.45% from
other races, and 0.95% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 1.55% of the population. From 1990 to 2000, the city's white non-Hispanic population declined from 53.6% to 45.9%, a -7.7% decline. By 2004, among all groups, Shreveport lost 0.8% of its 2000 census population.
There were 78,662 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, 0.72% 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.
|
AmSouth Building, the tallest skyscraper in Downtown Shreveport. |
Shreveport was once the oil capital of the United States when
Standard Oil moved its headquarters there in the early 20th century. In the 1980s, the oil and gas industry suffered a large economic downturn, and many companies cut back jobs or went out of business. Shreveport suffered severely from this recession, and many residents left the area.
Today the city is a busy metropolitan city, hosting various riverboat
casinos, and it is 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,
El Dorado Casino,
Horseshoe Casino,
Boomtown Casino, and Harrah's.
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 and nightclubs, a 14 screen movie theater, a bowling complex, and a marina. A new 350,000 square-foot convention center was recently completed in downtown Shreveport with an 800 space parking garage. An adjoining 12-story Hilton Hotel is under construction and slated for completion in September 2006. The Shreveport Convention Center is managed by SMG, the world leader in private management of public facilities.
Shreveport was largely unaffected by
Hurricane Katrina; however, it did accommodate many evacuees from Southern Lousiana. Since Shreveport is approximately 200 miles (300 km) inland, there has been speculation that some New Orleans residents and businesses who want to move away from the coast in fear of further hurricanes may relocate to the northern part of the state, centered around Shreveport.
In 2005,
Steelscape announced it would open one of the largest steel plants in
North America on the
Port of Shreveport-Bossier and be operational in March 2006.
General Motors has established a large plant in Shreveport. The Shreveport plant manufactures the
Hummer H3 SUV, and the
Chevy Colorado and
GMC Canyon trucks.
Softdisk, a software and Internet company, was founded in Shreveport in 1981 and published various
disk magazines in the 1980s and 1990s, which occasionally included early games by the founders of
Apogee Software. The founders of
id Software also worked there and lived in Shreveport in the early 1990s.
Higher education
Shreveport is home to four colleges:
Louisiana State University in Shreveport,
Centenary College of Louisiana,
Southern University at Shreveport, and
Louisiana Baptist University.
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport is a medical school located in Shreveport. Bossier Parish Community College is located in Bossier Parish, across the Red River from Shreveport.
Public schools
Public schools in Shreveport are operated by the
Caddo Public Schools District.
High schools in Shreveport include Booker T. Washigton High School (the city's first black high school),
C.E. Byrd High School, Caddo Parish Magnet High School,
Captain Shreve High School, Fair Park High School (which
Strohmile Swift of the
NBA attended), Green Oaks High School, Huntington High School, Northwood High School, Southwood High School (which
Alana Beard of the
WNBA attended,) and Woodlawn High School (which famed
NFL quarterback
Terry Bradshaw attended).
Middle schools include Broadmoor Middle School,
Caddo Parish Middle Magnet School, Ridgewood Middle School, Turner Middle School, and
Youree Drive Middle School.
Caddo Parish Middle Magnet School
Caddo Parish Middle Magnet School, a performing arts school serving sixth through eighth graders from across
Caddo Parish, is commonly known as Caddo Middle Magnet. Caddo Middle Magnet, home of the Stallions, ranked first among public
middle schools in
Louisiana on state standardized test scores for 2003-2004. Annual festivals include Colonial Days,
Oktoberfest,
Mardi Gras, and the
Renaissance Fair.
Youree Drive Middle School
Youree Drive Middle School is a neighborhood school with a nationally recognized commitment to excellence. This commitment is evidenced every day in an educational environment that has fostered a love for learning since 1959.
Fair Park High School
Fair Park High School is a national historic high school, on record with the
United States Department of the Interior. First opened in 1929, Fair Park has seen many changes as a result of the natural course of history. Predominantly an all-white school from 1929 to the 1970s, mandatory desegregation orders forced students, particularly African-American students, into the school by bus. This became known as "
busing".
Today, Fair Park High is a school of ever-increasing excellence. Each year, the school makes progress in the areas of math, English, science, and the arts. In addition, the school emphasizes medicine. Medical Careers Magnet is a program based at Fair Park that is separate from the actual high school. The program has its own set of admission requirements, as one does not have to attend the high school to attend the program for a half-day for the medical classes. The program became active in 1982. It currently is a member of the Vocational and Technical Industrial Association of America. The program produces leaders in the field of medicine, especially in the Shreveport area. Graduates from the program go on to attend
Howard University Medical School,
Louisiana State University Medical School, and
Tulane University Medical School. The program also produces those who follow different paths to public service, such as politics and law.
Beginning in the 1990s, Fair Park's band has become known as one of the top bands in the state. The band is referred to as a Discipline Pride Organization (DPO). The Sequoyah Indian mascot is a regular at the athletic events.
The school's graduates go on to attend top universities, such as
Loyola University-New Orleans and
Tulane University. Many notables in the community have graduated from there, including Reverend Theron Jackson, Reverend Timothy Jones, and Reverend Patrick Dennis.
Private schools
Calvary Baptist Academy
Calvary Baptist Academy [
1] is a K-12, private Baptist school located on Linwood Avenue in south Shreveport. The school was founded by W.D. "Step" Martin in 1969 as a ministry of Calvary Baptist Church [
2]. It graduated over 200 students to post-secondary success from 1969 through 1987. But due to the rising popularity of other schools' magnet programs in the 1980s, Calvary was forced to close its high school program. However, in 2003, Calvary Baptist's Senior Pastor and the school's Board President, Rick Edmonds, petitioned the staff of CBA to begin reinstating the high school grades one by one every year. After the first year of adding the 9th grade, interest in the school skyrocketed, the original plan was amended, and all grades were installed in the 2004-2005 school year thanks to the experience of Calvary Superintendent Ed Hearron and Principal Rhonda Honea.
Evangel Christian Academy
Web Site Evangel Christian Academy is a private, coeducational kindergarten to 12th grade Christian school located on two campuses in Shreveport, Louisiana. Rodney and Frances Duron, parents of the current chancellor Denny Duron, founded the school in 1980 as a kindergarten to eighth grade school in West Shreveport. The high school was added in 1989. Evangel has grown from 21 graduating seniors in 1990 to over 100 seniors in 2001. The school currently has approximately 630 students. The school's mission is to educate students for lifelong success and to enrich their lives with Christian purpose. It is an accredited, state approved (K(5)-12) school through the Louisiana State Department of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS-CASI). All faculty members are state qualified/ certified educators who are committed to Jesus Christ in their personal and professional lives.Since the school's inception in 1980, Christ-centered, excellent academics have been the rule. With Christ at the center of Evangel, God's blessings are evident: first place sweepstake honors at the regional literary rally in 2003 and 2004, with five overall state literary rally winners. Eleven students have placed at the statewide literary rally over the past two years. On the Iowa standardized tests Evangel students scored 10 to 20 percent above the statewide public school norm, with many students working one to two years above grade level in reading and math. The arts are thriving at Evangel as well. Hello Dolly, Bye Bye Birdie, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, South Pacific, and The Best of Broadway are a few of the first-rate musicals performed at Evangel in recent years. Students have won spots in the All-State Choir, All-State Band, and top honors at the regional ArtBreak talent show and visual arts showcase. Evangel has prepared a number of graduates to step into their dream of working in the entertainment industry, media, theater, musical performance, and Christian music.After state championships in football (10), baseball, and tennis in the last decade, many people have heard about Evangel's winning athletics. Evangel has a variety of sports for girls and boys of all ages, such as softball, baseball, basketball, volleyball, wrestling, golf, lacrosse, and tennis to name a few. Teamwork and commitment to excellence are learned in the sports arena."Evangel graduates are doing well," Chancellor Duron said. "Our graduates from each of the past three years have been awarded over $1million in academic and athletic scholarship funds to colleges and universities across the nation." About eighty-five percent continue their education in colleges and universities. One 2002 graduate, Morris Cox, scored a perfect score on the math portion of the SAT and received a full scholarship to MIT. In 2004, his brother Brian Cox was accepted to Yale University. Other graduates have attended prestigious universities like Southern Methodist University, Vanderbilt, Oral Roberts University, Pepperdine, Duke Law School, and more. A 1996 graduate, Reed Dickens, was assistant press secretary to President George W. Bush and traveled with him around the world. Many other alumni are leaders in business, entertainment, sports, government, education, and Christian service. For more information about Evangel Christian Academy, contact Admissions Director Pam Burrow at 319.687.2477
Loyola College Prep
Loyola College Prep [
3] is Shreveport's Catholic high school for boys and girls. Founded as an all-boys school called St. John's College in 1902 by the Rev. John F. O'Connor, S.J., from the New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the school's original location was on Texas Avenue. It relocated to its present location on Jordan Street in 1938. During World War II, the school was a military academy. In 1960 the school's name was changed to Jesuit High School. In 1972 the Board of Trustees hired the first lay principal. In 1982, the Jesuits relinquished control of the school to the Catholic Diocese of Shreveport [
4] and the school took on its present name in honor of
Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. In 1987 the school admitted girls for the first time, following closure of St. Vincent's Academy, a Catholic high school for girls.
The school has won Louisiana state championships in baseball (1964 and 1974), soccer (1996), football (1967 and 1976) and girls softball (1996). Boys athletic teams are known as the Blue Flyers, girls teams are the Lady Flyers, and the mascot is
Snoopy from the
Peanuts comic strip by
Charles M. Schulz. Loyola is the only school that Schulz gave permission to use Snoopy as its mascot. Recently the school built Messmer football stadium at an athletic complex on Clyde Fant Parkway. Additional facilities to be constructed there will be a baseball field, soccer field and tennis courts.
The academic campus on Jordan Street consists of a three level classroom building constructed in 1938 (including a cafeteria), a four level classroom building formerly serving as a residence for priests, a gymnasium including boys' dressing rooms, and the newest building on campus, a girls' dressing room adjacent to the gymnasium. There is also an alumni office/development center located in a converted doctor's office to the east of the main classroom building.
Regular student print publications are the newspaper,
The Flyer, and the annual yearbook,
Flight. The development office produces the electronic
E-Flyer and
ParentFlyer.Print
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. Other smaller non-daily newspapers in the area include
The Shreveport Sun, the
Caddo Citizen,
The Christian Times, and the
Daily Legal News, a newspaper focusing on law. Bossier City is served by the bi-weekly
Bossier Press-Tribune. The
Bombardier is the weekly newspaper of record for the
Barksdale Air Force Base. In addition,
The Forum Newsweekly,
American Classifieds, and
SB Magazine are published for the Shreveport-Bossier area. Other specialty magazines include
LA Health,
LA Parenting,
Real Estate Book,
Make & Model, and
Move On In.
Television
Shreveport and Bossier City are served by two major cable television systems: Shreveport is served by
Time Warner Cable and Bossier City is served by
Cox Communications.
Shreveport is served by several local
television stations including:
In 2004, KPXJ became a UPN affiliate. It was originally an affiliate of PAX (now known as
i). Shreveport is now one of a few markets which the i network does not have an afilliate station. i's national feed can be seen on Cox Communications in Bossier City and on Time Warner Cable in Shreveport.
Previously, UPN was broadcast on KSHV, sharing an affiliation with The WB network. UPN programming aired from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m.. Syndicated programming currently airs at that time on channel 45.
KTBS broadcasts a newscast for KPXJ on Monday through Friday nights at 9:00 p.m.. Before becoming a UPN affiliate in 2004, KPXJ aired rebroadcasts of KTBS 3 News daily at 5:30 p.m. (rebroadcast of the 5:00 p.m. newscast) and 11:00 p.m. (rebroadcast of the 10:00 newscast).
Radio
The following is a list of
radio stations in Shreveport.
AM Stationsalign=bottom| | Frequency | Callsign | Nickname | Format | Owner | | 710 | KEEL|News/Talk |
| 980 | KOKA|Black Gospel |
| 1070 | KBCL|Contemporary Christian |
| 1130 | KWKH|Classic Country |
| 1240 | KASO|Adult Standards |
| 1300 | KSYB|Black Gospel |
| 1340 | KRMD|News/Talk |
| 1480 | KIOU|Black Gospel |
| 1590 | KGAS|Southern Gospel |
|
FM Stationsalign=bottom| | Frequency | Callsign | Nickname | Format | Owner | | 89.9 | KDAQ|Classical |
| 91.3 | KSCL|College Rock/Various Genres |
| 92.1 | KSYR|Adult Contemporary |
| 92.9 | KTKC|Black Gospel |
| 93.7 | KXKS|Country |
| 94.5 | KRUF|Top 40 |
| 94.9 | KSBH|Country |
| 95.7 | KLKL|Oldies |
| 96.5 | KVKI|Adult Contemporary |
| 98.1 | KTAL|Classic Rock |
| 98.9 | KTUX|Active Rock |
| 99.7 | KMJJ|R&B/Hip-Hop |
| 101.1 | KRMD|Country |
| 102.1 | KDKS|R&B/Hip-Hop |
| 102.9 | KVMA|Adult R&B |
| 103.7 | KBTT|R&B/Hip-Hop |
| 104.3 | KGAS|Country |
| 104.7 | KORI|Country |
| 105.3 | KNCB|Country |
| 106.7 | KYLA|Classic Country |
| 107.9 | KQHN|TBA |
|
The
Red River Revel is a yearly event featuring local music, food and entertainers, drawing in hundreds of thousands of individuals from across the tri-state area. Other annual festivals include
Mudbug Madness, a celebration of the
crawfish;
Holiday in Dixie; and the
Louisiana State Fair. Shreveport hosts the NCAA football
Independence Bowl each December.
Shreveport has several points of interest, including:
*
The Gardens of the American Rose Center*
The National Rose Garden â€" the world's largest rose garden.
The famous blues guitarist/singer Huddie William Ledbetter ('Leadbelly') was born in 1888 near Shreveport.
Shreveport was the home of concert pianist
Van Cliburn, winner of the 1958
Tchiakovsky competition. Cliburn later left the area. It is also the home of football stars
Terry Bradshaw and
Joe Ferguson, as well as legendary guitarist
James Burton.
The character actress and comedian
Pat Carroll was born in Shreveport in 1927.
The famous criminal defense attorney
Johnnie L. Cochran was born in Shreveport in 1937. He died in
Los Angeles in 2005.
From November 1972-January 1987, Shreveport was the birthplace of both of Louisiana's then sitting United States senators,
Russell B. Long and
J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. Today, neither senator comes from Shreveport, but both hail from Greater
New Orleans.
Other famous residents include
*
Kevyn Aucoin, famous make-up artist and photographer
*
Kix Brooks of country music act
Brooks and Dunn*
Bill Joyce, a children's author
*
Kenny Wayne Sheppard, blues guitarist
*
Hal Sutton, professional golfer
*
David Toms, professional golfer
*
Albert Belle, Former Major League Baseball Player
*
Vernon Wells, Major League Baseball Player with the Toronto Blue Jays
*
K.D. Aubert, American Actress and Former Fashion Model.
*
Stromile Swift, NBA Basketball Player
*
Arnaz Battle, NFL Football Player. Played High School Ball At C.E. Byrd High School
*
Official city site*
The Times newspaper*
Shreveport/Bossier Page*
National Weather Service Shreveport office
