Shreveport, << SHREEV pawrt >> (pop. 187,593), is one of the largest cities in Louisiana. A major center of industry and trade, it lies on the Red River, in the northwestern part of the state. Shreveport and Bossier City form a metropolitan area with 393,406 people.
The city was named for Henry M. Shreve, a trader and steamboat builder. Shreve opened the Red River to navigation in the 1830’s by clearing it of a logjam that was more than 160 miles (257 kilometers) long. Shreveport has a mayor-council government and is the parish (county) seat of Caddo Parish.
Shreveport is the home of Centenary College of Louisiana and branches of Louisiana State University and Southern University. Cultural attractions in the city include the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum and the R. W. Norton Art Gallery. A performing arts center, a convention center, and a garden and art center are on the riverfront. Shreveport hosts the annual Louisiana State Fair and the Holiday in Dixie spring festival.
Shreveport has hundreds of manufacturing plants. The city’s industries include the production of fabricated metals, glassware, telephone equipment, wood products, chain saws, trucks, and steel castings. Agricultural products include beef cattle, cotton, and timber. A number of railroads and airlines serve the city. Shreveport has one daily newspaper—The Times.
Native American Caddo people lived in what is now the Shreveport area before white settlers arrived. In 1834, English and Scotch-Irish families began to move there from the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. They set up a farming community on the site because of its fertile soil and its location above the river’s flood level.
Shreveport was incorporated in 1839. It served as the Confederate state capital from 1863 to 1865. The cotton industry provided most of the town’s income during the 1800’s. Then, in 1906, oil and natural gas were discovered in nearby Caddo Lake. Cotton and oil operations, plus the expansion of other industries, brought rapid growth to Shreveport during the first half of the 1900’s.
In 1994, the Red River Navigation Project was completed. The project deepened the Red River and provided industrial areas of Shreveport with a water link to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico.
