187-555: Shreveport ( / ˈ ʃ r iː v p ɔːr t / SHREEV -port ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana . It is the third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge . The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish , of which it is the parish seat. It extends along the west bank of the Red River into neighboring Bossier Parish . The 2020 census tabulation for
374-852: A General Motors plant that permanently closed in August 2012. The plant produced the Chevrolet Colorado , GMC Canyon , Hummer H3 series, and the Isuzu i-Series . In January 2013, the plant was leased from Caddo Parish by Elio Motors . 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
561-604: A slave rebellion that started during the French Revolution of Saint-Domingue in 1791. Over the next decade, thousands of refugees landed in Louisiana from the island, including Europeans, Creoles, and Africans, some of the latter brought in by each free group. They greatly increased the French-speaking population in New Orleans and Louisiana, as well as the number of Africans, and the slaves reinforced African culture in
748-401: A yellow fever epidemic, with over 400 additional victims eventually succumbing. The total death toll from August through November was approximately 1,200. Five Roman Catholic priests in the city and two religious sisters died while caring for yellow fever victims in the city. Greenwood Cemetery was established in 1893. A number of local African American musicians became nationally famous. By
935-513: A 21 percent increase in forcible rapes and more than 130 percent increases in both business armed robberies and business burglaries. In 2018 the local government and police authorities reported a crime drop in most categories; it was part of an overall reduction in crime since the late 20th century. As Shreveport continued its economic resurgence, the Adrian Perkins administration saw the coming of Advanced Aero Services, Tomakk Glass Partners, and
1122-589: A 45-foot (14-meter) steamboat on the Delaware River on 22 August 1787, in the presence of members of the United States Constitutional Convention . Fitch later (1790) built a larger vessel that carried passengers and freight between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware. His steamboat was not a financial success and was shut down after a few months service, however this marks
1309-464: A Confederate prison camp, blew up, causing more than 1,700 deaths. For most of the 19th century and part of the early 20th century, trade on the Mississippi River was dominated by paddle-wheel steamboats. Their use generated rapid development of economies of port cities; the exploitation of agricultural and commodity products, which could be more easily transported to markets; and prosperity along
1496-471: A Seine steamboat service. In 1818, Ferdinando I , the first Italian steamboat, left the port of Naples , where it had been built. The first sea-going steamboat was Richard Wright's first steamboat "Experiment", an ex-French lugger ; she steamed from Leeds to Yarmouth , arriving Yarmouth 19 July 1813. "Tug", the first tugboat, was launched by the Woods Brothers, Port Glasgow, on 5 November 1817; in
1683-606: A Spanish expedition led by Pánfilo de Narváez located the mouth of the Mississippi River. In 1542, Hernando de Soto 's expedition skirted to the north and west of the state (encountering Caddo and Tunica groups) and then followed the Mississippi River down to the Gulf of Mexico in 1543. Spanish interest in Louisiana faded away for a century and a half. In the late 17th century, French and French Canadian expeditions, which included sovereign, religious and commercial aims, established
1870-571: 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 and John 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,
2057-511: A crank. He got support from Lord Dundas to build a second steamboat, which became famous as the Charlotte Dundas , named in honour of Lord Dundas's daughter. Symington designed a new hull around his powerful horizontal engine, with the crank driving a large paddle wheel in a central upstand in the hull, aimed at avoiding damage to the canal banks. The new boat was 56 ft (17.1 m) long, 18 ft (5.5 m) wide and 8 ft (2.4 m) depth, with
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#17328559861782244-543: A foothold on the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast. With its first settlements, France laid claim to a vast region of North America and set out to establish a commercial empire and French nation stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. In 1682, the French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle named the region Louisiana to honor King Louis XIV of France. The first permanent settlement, Fort Maurepas (now Ocean Springs, Mississippi ),
2431-414: A giant warship version, 246 feet (75 m) long. Miller sent King Gustav III of Sweden an actual small-scale version, 100 feet (30 m) long, called Experiment . Miller then engaged engineer William Symington to build his patent steam engine that drove a stern-mounted paddle wheel in a boat in 1785. The boat was successfully tried out on Dalswinton Loch in 1788 and was followed by a larger steamboat
2618-544: A growing town. This became a pattern repeated in New Orleans and other places, although the commodity crop in the south was primarily sugar cane. Louisiana's French settlements contributed to further exploration and outposts, concentrated along the banks of the Mississippi and its major tributaries, from Louisiana to as far north as the region called the Illinois Country , around present-day St. Louis, Missouri . The latter
2805-496: 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. 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 gambling casinos , and, before Hurricane Katrina in 2005,
2992-599: A loss that later made it difficult for many to gain Confederate pensions from state governments. 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 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. In 1873, Shreveport lost 759 citizens in an 80-day period to
3179-530: A lot of stress on the rear of the ships and would not see widespread use till the conversion from wood boats to iron boats was complete—well underway by 1860. By the 1840s the ocean-going steam ship industry was well established as the Cunard Line and others demonstrated. The last sailing frigate of the US Navy, Santee , had been launched in 1855. In the mid-1840s the acquisition of Oregon and California opened up
3366-525: A low elevation overlooking the Red River. Western and northern portions of Shreveport have an elevation over 253 feet (77 m) above sea level. 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 123.396 square miles (319.59 km), of which, 107.798 square miles (279.20 km)
3553-416: 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. 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%. In 2019,
3740-464: 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, including Shreveport Operations ,
3927-632: A partial load of her about 60 saloon (about $ 300 fare) and 150 steerage (about $ 150 fare) passenger capacity. Only a few were going all the way to California. Her crew numbered about 36 men. She left New York well before confirmed word of the California Gold Rush had reached the East Coast. Once the California Gold Rush was confirmed by President James Polk in his State of the Union address on 5 December 1848 people started rushing to Panama City to catch
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#17328559861784114-571: 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 the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing on September 15 in Birmingham, Alabama . D'Artois and other officers entered the church on horseback and took out the pastor, Dr. Harry Blake, beating him severely. Also in 1963, headlines across the country reported that African American musician Sam Cooke
4301-654: 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. The Eastern Orthodox Church has maintained a presence in Shreveport since the early 1900s. The oldest Orthodox church in the city is St. George Greek Orthodox Church of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America , followed by St. Nicholas Orthodox Church ( Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America ), and
4488-505: A rich southern biota , including birds such as ibises and egrets , many species of tree frogs —such as the state-recognized American green tree frog —and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish . More elevated areas, particularly in the north, contain a wide variety of ecosystems such as tallgrass prairie , longleaf pine forest and wet savannas ; these support an exceptionally large number of plant species, including many species of terrestrial orchids and carnivorous plants . Over half
4675-419: A second boat made 30-mile (48 km) excursions, and in 1790, a third boat ran a series of trials on the Delaware River before patent disputes dissuaded Fitch from continuing. Meanwhile, Patrick Miller of Dalswinton , near Dumfries , Scotland , had developed double-hulled boats propelled by manually cranked paddle wheels placed between the hulls, even attempting to interest various European governments in
4862-599: A special envoy to Napoleon, to assist in obtaining New Orleans for the United States. Jefferson also raised the authorized expenditure to $ 10 million. However, on April 11, 1803, French foreign minister Talleyrand surprised Livingston by asking how much the United States was prepared to pay for the entirety of Louisiana, not just New Orleans and the surrounding area (as Livingston's instructions covered). Monroe agreed with Livingston that Napoleon might withdraw this offer at any time (leaving them with no ability to obtain
5049-669: A steamboat to ply a route between New York City and Albany, New York on the Hudson River . He successfully obtained a monopoly on Hudson River traffic after terminating a prior 1797 agreement with John Stevens , who owned extensive land on the Hudson River in New Jersey. The former agreement had partitioned northern Hudson River traffic to Livingston and southern to Stevens, agreeing to use ships designed by Stevens for both operations. With their new monopoly, Fulton and Livingston's boat, named
5236-622: A trip around Cape Horn . About 20–30% of the California Argonauts are thought to have returned to their homes, mostly on the East Coast of the United States via Panama—the fastest way home. Many returned to California after settling their business in the East with their wives, family and/or sweethearts. Most used the Panama or Nicaragua route till 1855 when the completion of the Panama Railroad made
5423-479: A visit to England, made his own engine, and put it in a boat. The boat sank, and while Henry made an improved model, he did not appear to have much success, though he may have inspired others. The first steam-powered ship, Pyroscaphe , was a paddle steamer powered by a double-acting steam engine ; it was built in France in 1783 by Marquis Claude de Jouffroy and his colleagues as an improvement of an earlier attempt,
5610-518: A war or the loss of a single American life, and set a precedent for the purchase of territory. It opened the way for the eventual expansion of the United States across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. Shortly after the United States took possession, the area was divided into two territories along the 33rd parallel north on March 26, 1804, thereby organizing the Territory of Orleans to the south and
5797-625: A wooden hull. The boat was built by John Allan and the engine by the Carron Company . The first sailing was on the canal in Glasgow on 4 January 1803, with Lord Dundas and a few of his relatives and friends on board. The crowd were pleased with what they saw, but Symington wanted to make improvements and another more ambitious trial was made on 28 March. On this occasion, the Charlotte Dundas towed two 70 ton barges 30 km (almost 20 miles) along
Shreveport, Louisiana - Misplaced Pages Continue
5984-410: A year under Dodd. Other historic large Baptist churches include Antioch 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. Mount Canaan was previously pastored by civil rights era icon Dr. Harry Blake, and Galilee
6171-486: Is St. Mark's Cathedral , an Episcopal Church congregation dating its establishment to the first religious service held in Shreveport in 1839. It became the see of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana in 1990. In Shreveport's interdenominational and Pentecostal population, Shreveport Community Church (an evangelical church affiliated with Assemblies of God USA ) owns and operates Evangel Christian Academy ,
6358-624: Is a Latin suffix that can refer to "information relating to a particular individual, subject, or place." Thus, roughly, Louis + ana carries the idea of "related to Louis." Once part of the French colonial empire , the Louisiana Territory stretched from present-day Mobile Bay to just north of the present-day Canada–United States border , including a small part of what are now the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan . The area of Louisiana
6545-522: Is also part of the I-20 Cyber Corridor linking the tech-centered Dallas–Fort Worth , Shreveport–Bossier , Greater Monroe , and Greater Atlanta metropolitan areas together. The city of Shreveport is 188 miles (303 km) from Dallas , 98 miles (158 km) from Tyler , and 41 miles (66 km) from Marshall , Texas; 215 miles (346 km) from Little Rock and 73 miles (117 km) from Texarkana , Arkansas; and 250 miles (400 km) from
6732-534: Is estimated to have had a population of more than 20,000. The Plaquemine culture is considered ancestral to the historic Natchez and Taensa peoples, whose descendants encountered Europeans in the colonial era. By 1000 in the northwestern part of the state, the Fourche Maline culture had evolved into the Caddoan Mississippian culture. The Caddoan Mississippians occupied a large territory, including what
6919-470: Is home to a branch of the National Weather Service which provides forecasts and warnings for the greater Ark-La-Tex region. Shreveport's population was initially 1,728 at the 1850 U.S. census , and has experienced growth to a historic high of 206,989 at the 1980 census . According to the 2020 United States census , there were 187,593 people, 73,114 households, and 42,775 families residing in
7106-447: Is land and 15.548 square miles (40.27 km) is water. 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
7293-608: Is named for J. S. Noel Jr. The church was begun as a mission in 1906. In 2023, First United Methodist voted to leave the United Methodist Church. The large Holy Trinity Catholic Church , located downtown, was founded in 1858; it served Irish and German immigrants as well as native-born residents. Five priests died of yellow fever in the 1873 epidemic. The current sanctuary in Romanesque revival style architecture dates to 1896. Particularly striking in size and architecture
7480-913: Is now eastern Oklahoma, western Arkansas, northeast Texas , and northwest Louisiana. Archaeological evidence has demonstrated that the cultural continuity is unbroken from prehistory to the present. The Caddo and related Caddo-language speakers in prehistoric times and at first European contact were the direct ancestors of the modern Caddo Nation of Oklahoma of today. Significant Caddoan Mississippian archaeological sites in Louisiana include Belcher Mound Site in Caddo Parish and Gahagan Mounds Site in Red River Parish. Many current place names in Louisiana, including Atchafalaya , Natchitouches (now spelled Natchitoches ), Caddo, Houma , Tangipahoa , and Avoyel (as Avoyelles ), are transliterations of those used in various Native American languages. The first European explorers to visit Louisiana came in 1528 when
7667-544: Is strong evidence of a growing cultural and political complexity. Many Coles Creek sites were erected over earlier Woodland period mortuary mounds. Scholars have speculated that emerging elites were symbolically and physically appropriating dead ancestors to emphasize and project their own authority. The Mississippian period in Louisiana was when the Plaquemine and the Caddoan Mississippian cultures developed, and
Shreveport, Louisiana - Misplaced Pages Continue
7854-696: Is the location of Centenary College of Louisiana , Louisiana State University Shreveport , Louisiana Tech University Shreveport , Southern University at Shreveport , and Louisiana Baptist University . It forms part of the I-20 Cyber Corridor linking Shreveport to Dallas and Atlanta . Companies with significant operations or headquarters in Shreveport are Amazon , Regions Financial Corporation , JPMorgan Chase , Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall , AT&T Mobility , United Parcel Service , Walmart , SWEPCO , General Electric , UOP LLC , Calumet Specialty Products Partners , and APS Payroll . Shreveport
8041-571: Is the place of origin of the Mound Builders culture during the Middle Archaic period , in the 4th millennium BC . The sites of Caney and Frenchman's Bend have been securely dated to 5600–5000 BP (about 3700–3100 BC), demonstrating that seasonal hunter-gatherers from around this time organized to build complex earthwork constructions in what is now northern Louisiana. The Watson Brake site near present-day Monroe has an eleven-mound complex; it
8228-457: Is the state's capital, and New Orleans , a French Louisiana region, is its largest city with a population of about 383,000 people. Louisiana has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the south; a large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River . Much of Louisiana's lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp . These contain
8415-517: Is today a traditional Jewish synagogue. Shreveport, historically, has had a large and civic-minded Jewish community and has elected three Jewish mayors. The Islamic community in Shreveport-Bossier constituted approximately 14% of Louisiana's total Muslim population in 2018. The majority of Shreveporter Muslims are Sunni , followed by the Nation of Islam and non-denominational Islam . Shreveport
8602-609: Is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels working on lakes, rivers, and in short-sea shipping . The development of the steamboat led to the larger steamship , which is a seaworthy and often ocean-going ship . Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS , S.S. or S/S (for 'Screw Steamer') or PS (for 'Paddle Steamer'); however, these designations are most often used for steamships. The first steamboat designs used Newcomen steam engines . These engines were large, heavy, and produced little power, which resulted in an unfavorable power-to-weight ratio. The heavy weight of
8789-495: The Phoenix , which used a high-pressure engine in combination with a low-pressure condensing engine. The first steamboats powered only by high pressure were the Aetna and Pennsylvania , designed and built by Oliver Evans . In October 1811 a ship designed by John Stevens , Little Juliana , would operate as the first steam-powered ferry between Hoboken and New York City. Stevens' ship
8976-703: The Chagres River in Panama was won by the United States Mail Steamship Company whose first paddle wheel steamship, the SS Falcon (1848) was dispatched on 1 December 1848 to the Caribbean (Atlantic) terminus of the Isthmus of Panama trail—the Chagres River . The SS California (1848) , the first Pacific Mail Steamship Company paddle wheel steamship, left New York City on 6 October 1848 with only
9163-492: The Clermont after Livingston's estate, could make a profit. The Clermont was nicknamed "Fulton's Folly" by doubters. On Monday, 17 August 1807, the memorable first voyage of the Clermont up the Hudson River was begun. She traveled the 150 miles (240 km) trip to Albany in a little over 32 hours and made the return trip in about eight hours. The use of steamboats on major US rivers soon followed Fulton's 1807 success. In 1811,
9350-412: The Delaware River between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey, carrying as many as 30 passengers. This boat could typically make 7 to 8 miles per hour (11 to 13 km/h) and travelled more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) during its short length of service. The Fitch steamboat was not a commercial success, as this travel route was adequately covered by relatively good wagon roads. The following year,
9537-729: The District of Louisiana (subsequently formed as the Louisiana Territory ) to the north. Louisiana became the eighteenth U.S. state on April 30, 1812; the Territory of Orleans became the State of Louisiana and the Louisiana Territory was simultaneously renamed the Missouri Territory . Steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power , typically driving propellers or paddlewheels . The term steamboat
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#17328559861789724-658: The Du Maine and the Aurore , arrived in New Orleans carrying more than 500 black slaves coming from Africa. Previous slaves in Louisiana had been transported from French colonies in the West Indies. By the end of 1721, New Orleans counted 1,256 inhabitants, of whom about half were slaves. In 1724, the French government issued a law called the Code Noir ("Black Code" in English) which regulated
9911-493: The Forth and Clyde Canal to Glasgow , and despite "a strong breeze right ahead" that stopped all other canal boats it took only nine and a quarter hours, giving an average speed of about 3 km/h (2 mph). The Charlotte Dundas was the first practical steamboat, in that it demonstrated the practicality of steam power for ships, and was the first to be followed by continuous development of steamboats. The American Robert Fulton
10098-542: The Heliopolis , to remove the log jam. The company and the village of Shreve Town were named in Shreve's honor. Shreve Town was originally contained within the boundaries of a piece of land sold to the company in 1835 by the indigenous Caddo Indians . 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,
10285-424: The Isthmus of Panama or Nicaragua typically took about one week by native canoe and mule back. The 4,000 miles (6,400 km) trip to or from San Francisco to Panama City could be done by paddle wheel steamer in about three weeks. In addition to this, travel time via the Panama route typically had a two- to four-week waiting period to find a ship going from Panama City, Panama to San Francisco before 1850. It
10472-816: The Louisiana Maneuvers . The field exercise's mission was accomplished largely due to General George S. Patton , who commanded the mock "Blue" army's 2nd Armored Division. Shreveport was home to the Louisiana Hayride radio program, broadcast weekly from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial 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 including Hank Williams and Elvis Presley , who made his broadcasting debut at this venue. In
10659-655: The Panic of 1857 . Steamboat traffic including passenger and freight business grew exponentially in the decades before the Civil War. So too did the economic and human losses inflicted by snags, shoals, boiler explosions, and human error. During the US Civil War the Battle of Hampton Roads , often referred to as either the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack or the Battle of Ironclads ,
10846-408: The River Clyde in Scotland. The Margery , launched in Dumbarton in 1814, in January 1815 became the first steamboat on the River Thames, much to the amazement of Londoners. She operated a London-to-Gravesend river service until 1816, when she was sold to the French and became the first steamboat to cross the English Channel. When she reached Paris, the new owners renamed her Elise and inaugurated
11033-470: The Southern Baptist Convention , National Baptist Convention (USA) , National Baptist Convention of America , and Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship are the largest Baptist denominations in the city. The Progressive National Baptist Convention is the largest Progressive Baptist group in the area. Methodists are mainly affiliates of the African Methodist Episcopal Church or Christian Methodist Episcopal Church , though some also claimed affiliation to
11220-445: The Steamboat Iowa (1838) is incorporated in the Seal of Iowa because it represented speed, power, and progress. At the same time, the expanding steamboat traffic had severe adverse environmental effects, in the Middle Mississippi Valley especially, between St. Louis and the river's confluence with the Ohio . The steamboats consumed much wood for fuel, and the river floodplain and banks became deforested. This led to instability in
11407-453: The Texas Street bridge , was lit with neon lights . Residents predictably had a variety of reactions to these changes. Shreveport was named an All-American City in 1953, 1979, and 1999. In the 1990s, Shreveport became known for its rap music scene, and acquired its famous aka name, Ratchet City . The term was first used by the group Lava House in its 1999 single "Ratchet". During the September 11, 2001 attacks , President George W. Bush
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#173285598617811594-472: The United 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 at Fort Crockett , Texas, would be enlarged by 500 percent and would require at least 20,000 acres (81 km) to support aerial gunnery and
11781-412: The civil rights movement to correct injustices under Jim Crow and disenfranchisement 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. In September 1963 George W. D'Artois , Public Service Commissioner, refused
11968-412: The steam engine power and provide power for occasions when the steam engine needed repair or maintenance. These steamships typically concentrated on high value cargo, mail and passengers and only had moderate cargo capabilities because of their required loads of coal. The typical paddle wheel steamship was powered by a coal burning engine that required firemen to shovel the coal to the burners. By 1849
12155-436: The 1776 Palmipède . At its first demonstration on 15 July 1783, Pyroscaphe travelled upstream on the river Saône for some fifteen minutes before the engine failed. Presumably this was easily repaired as the boat is said to have made several such journeys. Following this, De Jouffroy attempted to get the government interested in his work, but for political reasons was instructed that he would have to build another version on
12342-408: The 1890s, the steamship technology so improved that steamships became economically viable even on long-distance voyages such as linking Great Britain with its Pacific Asian colonies, such as Singapore and Hong Kong . This resulted in the downfall of sailing. The era of the steamboat in the United States began in Philadelphia in 1787 when John Fitch (1743–1798) made the first successful trial of
12529-414: The 1910s, Huddie William Ledbetter —also known as "Lead Belly", a blues singer and guitarist—was performing for Shreveport audiences in St. Paul's Bottoms, the notable red-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
12716-471: The 19th century, the flooding of the Mississippi became a more severe problem than when the floodplain was filled with trees and brush. Most steamboats were destroyed by boiler explosions or fires—and many sank in the river, with some of those buried in silt as the river changed course. From 1811 to 1899, 156 steamboats were lost to snags or rocks between St. Louis and the Ohio River. Another 411 were damaged by fire, explosions or ice during that period. One of
12903-446: The 2010s; the whole of Shreveport has been improving roads since the mid-2010s, with continued road projects in 2018. In 2018, buildings in Shreveport's downtown and nearby districts were revitalized due to re-investment in the area. In 2020, plans were unveiled for the I-49 Connector and further redevelopment of the city. Shreveport encompasses many areas, neighborhoods, and districts. The busiest thoroughfares and areas of Shreveport are
13090-417: The Acadians, who became the ancestors of Louisiana's Cajuns . Spanish Canary Islanders, called Isleños , emigrated from the Canary Islands of Spain to Louisiana under the Spanish crown between 1778 and 1783. In 1800, France's Napoleon Bonaparte reacquired Louisiana from Spain in the Treaty of San Ildefonso , an arrangement kept secret for two years. Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville brought
13277-399: The Arkansas River on 16 July 1863 demonstrated this. The steamboat was destroyed, the cargo was lost, and the tiny Union escort was run off. The loss did not affect the Union war effort, however. The worst of all steamboat accidents occurred at the end of the Civil War in April 1865, when the steamboat Sultana , carrying an over-capacity load of returning Union soldiers recently freed from
13464-472: The Bottoms. Bluesmen Jesse Thomas , Dave Alexander , and Kenny Wayne Shepherd , and the early jazz and ragtime 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,
13651-636: The Crown's transfer of the Illinois Country 's governance from Canada to Louisiana—may have featured the broadest definition of Louisiana: all land claimed by France south of the Great Lakes between the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghenies . A generation later, trade conflicts between Canada and Louisiana led to a more defined boundary between the French colonies; in 1745, Louisiana governor general Vaudreuil set
13838-670: The Holy Nativity of the Lord Church of the Orthodox Church in America . The Jewish community of Shreveport dates to the organization of Congregation Har El in 1859, made up primarily of German Jewish immigrants in its early years. It developed as B'nai Zion Temple , today the city's Reform congregation, which built the city's largest synagogue. Agudath Achim, founded in 1905 as an Orthodox congregation of immigrants from Eastern Europe,
14025-449: The Mississippi , river pilot and author Mark Twain described much of the operation of such vessels. By 1849 the shipping industry was in transition from sail-powered boats to steam-powered boats and from wood construction to an ever-increasing metal construction. There were basically three different types of ships being used: standard sailing ships of several different types , clippers , and paddle steamers with paddles mounted on
14212-475: The Newcomen engine required a structurally strong boat, and the reciprocating motion of the engine beam required a complicated mechanism to produce propulsion. James Watt 's design improvements increased the efficiency of the steam engine, improving the power-to-weight ratio, and created an engine capable of rotary motion by using a double-acting cylinder which injected steam at each end of the piston stroke to move
14399-672: The Panama Railroad was completed the Panama Route was by far the quickest and easiest way to get to or from California from the East Coast of the U.S. or Europe. Most California bound merchandise still used the slower but cheaper Cape Horn sailing ship route. The sinking of the paddle steamer SS Central America (the Ship of Gold ) in a hurricane on 12 September 1857 and the loss of about $ 2 million in California gold indirectly led to
14586-426: The Panama Route much easier, faster and more reliable. Between 1849 and 1869 when the first transcontinental railroad was completed across the United States about 800,000 travelers had used the Panama route. Most of the roughly $ 50,000,000 of gold found each year in California were shipped East via the Panama route on paddle steamers, mule trains and canoes and later the Panama Railroad across Panama. After 1855 when
14773-871: The SS California. The SS California picked up more passengers in Valparaiso , Chile and Panama City , Panama and showed up in San Francisco, loaded with about 400 passengers—twice the passengers it had been designed for—on 28 February 1849. She had left behind about another 400–600 potential passengers still looking for passage from Panama City. The SS California had made the trip from Panama and Mexico after steaming around Cape Horn from New York—see SS California (1848) . The trips by paddle wheel steamship to Panama and Nicaragua from New York, Philadelphia, Boston, via New Orleans and Havana were about 2,600 miles (4,200 km) long and took about two weeks. Trips across
14960-613: The Seine in Paris. De Jouffroy did not have the funds for this, and, following the events of the French revolution, work on the project was discontinued after he left the country. Similar boats were made in 1785 by John Fitch in Philadelphia and William Symington in Dumfries , Scotland. Fitch successfully trialled his boat in 1787, and in 1788, he began operating a regular commercial service along
15147-647: The Seven Years' War (generally referred to in North America as the French and Indian War ). This included the lands along the Gulf Coast and north of Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River, which became known as British West Florida. The rest of Louisiana west of the Mississippi, as well as the "isle of New Orleans", had become a colony of Spain by the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762) . The transfer of power on either side of
15334-659: The Spanish "cimarron", meaning which means "fierce" or "unruly." In the late 18th century, the last Spanish governor of the Louisiana territory wrote: Truly, it is impossible for lower Louisiana to get along without slaves and with the use of slaves, the colony had been making great strides toward prosperity and wealth. When the United States purchased Louisiana in 1803, it was soon accepted that slaves could be brought to Louisiana as easily as they were brought to neighboring Mississippi , though it violated U.S. law to do so. Despite demands by United States Rep. James Hillhouse and by
15521-573: 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 President Abraham Lincoln and the rapid departure of their own generals." In the confusion there was a breakdown of military discipline and rioting by soldiers. They destroyed buildings containing service records,
15708-532: The United States acquired the territory in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, France and Spain jockeyed for control of New Orleans and the lands west of the Mississippi. In the 1720s, German immigrants settled along the Mississippi River, in a region referred to as the German Coast . France ceded most of its territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain in 1763, in the aftermath of Britain's victory in
15895-403: The United States, was disturbed by Napoleon's plans to re-establish French colonies in North America. With the possession of New Orleans, Napoleon could close the Mississippi to U.S. commerce at any time. Jefferson authorized Robert R. Livingston , U.S. minister to France, to negotiate for the purchase of the city of New Orleans, portions of the east bank of the Mississippi, and free navigation of
16082-516: The United States. The payment was made in United States bonds , which Napoleon sold at face value to the Dutch firm of Hope and Company , and the British banking house of Baring , at a discount of 87 + 1 ⁄ 2 per each $ 100 unit. As a result, France received only $ 8,831,250 in cash for Louisiana. English banker Alexander Baring conferred with Marbois in Paris, shuttled to the United States to pick up
16269-473: The United States. The closure of this vital port to the United States caused anger and consternation. Commerce in the west was virtually blockaded. Historians believe the revocation of the right of deposit was prompted by abuses by the Americans, particularly smuggling, and not by French intrigues as was believed at the time. President Jefferson ignored public pressure for war with France, and appointed James Monroe
16456-697: The Upper South or transported to New Orleans and other coastal markets by ship in the coastwise slave trade . After sales in New Orleans, steamboats operating on the Mississippi transported slaves upstream to markets or plantation destinations at Natchez and Memphis. Unusually for a slave-state, Louisiana harbored escaped Filipino slaves from the Manila Galleons . The members of the Filipino community were then commonly referred to as Manila men, or Manilamen, and later Tagalas , as they were free when they created
16643-462: The Upper South to the Deep South, two thirds of them in the slave trade. Others were transported by their owners as slaveholders moved west for new lands. With changing agriculture in the Upper South as planters shifted from tobacco to less labor-intensive mixed agriculture, planters had excess laborers. Many sold slaves to traders to take to the Deep South. Slaves were driven by traders overland from
16830-683: The West Coast to American steamboat traffic. Starting in 1848 Congress subsidized the Pacific Mail Steamship Company with $ 199,999 to set up regular packet ship , mail, passenger, and cargo routes in the Pacific Ocean. This regular scheduled route went from Panama City , Nicaragua and Mexico to and from San Francisco and Oregon . Panama City was the Pacific terminus of the Isthmus of Panama trail across Panama. The Atlantic Ocean mail contract from East Coast cities and New Orleans to and from
17017-556: The West Indies, Germany, and Ireland. It experienced an agricultural boom, particularly in cotton and sugarcane, which were cultivated primarily by slaves from Africa. As a slave state, Louisiana was one of the original seven members of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War . Louisiana's unique French heritage is reflected in its toponyms, dialects, customs, demographics, and legal system. Relative to
17204-582: The West was fought to control major rivers, especially the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers using paddlewheelers. Only the Union had them (the Confederacy captured a few, but were unable to use them.) The Battle of Vicksburg involved monitors and ironclad riverboats. The USS Cairo is a survivor of the Vicksburg battle. Trade on the river was suspended for two years because of a Confederate's Mississippi blockade before
17391-901: The Youree Drive area (named for Peter 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: Shreveport has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfa ). 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 and tornadoes occur in
17578-567: The advantages of the proposed site to the War 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
17765-552: 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) 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) on February 12, 1899 , to 110 °F (43 °C) on August 18, 1909, and August 25 and 26, 2023. Shreveport
17952-412: The banks, addition of silt to the water, making the river both shallower and hence wider and causing unpredictable, lateral movement of the river channel across the wide, ten-mile floodplain, endangering navigation. Boats designated as snagpullers to keep the channels free had crews that sometimes cut remaining large trees 100–200 feet (30–61 m) or more back from the banks, exacerbating the problems. In
18139-577: The biggest slave market in the United States, which contributed greatly to the economy of the city and of the state. New Orleans had become one of the wealthiest cities, and the third largest city, in the nation. The ban on the African slave trade and importation of slaves had increased demand in the domestic market. During the decades after the American Revolutionary War, more than one million enslaved African Americans underwent forced migration from
18326-406: The bonds, took them to Britain, and returned to France with the money—which Napoleon used to wage war against Baring's own country. When news of the purchase reached the United States, Jefferson was surprised. He had authorized the expenditure of $ 10 million for a port city, and instead received treaties committing the government to spend $ 15 million on a land package which would double
18513-472: The city continues in its efforts to revitalize its infrastructure, revive the economy through diversification, and lower crime. Despite these efforts, the city witnessed the largest number of homicides in its recorded history in 2021, eclipsing the previous record set in 1993. Shreveport is the educational, commercial and cultural center of the Ark-La-Tex region, where Arkansas , Louisiana, and Texas meet. It
18700-400: 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 $ 1,500,000 municipal 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
18887-736: The city's dockyards, and in 1805 Evans convinced them to contract with him for a steam-powered dredge, which he called the Oruktor Amphibolos . It was built but was only marginally successful. Evans's high-pressure steam engine had a much higher power-to-weight ratio , making it practical to apply it in locomotives and steamboats. Evans became so depressed with the poor protection that the US patent law gave inventors that he eventually took all his engineering drawings and invention ideas and destroyed them to prevent his children wasting their time in court fighting patent infringements. Robert Fulton constructed
19074-587: The city's population was 201,573, while the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area had a population of 393,406. 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 . It grew throughout the 20th century and, after
19261-439: The city, there were 89,523 housing units, with a 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. From 2014 to 2018,
19448-614: The city. Anglo-American officials initially made attempts to keep out the additional Creoles of color , but the Louisiana Creoles wanted to increase the Creole population: more than half of the refugees eventually settled in Louisiana, and the majority remained in New Orleans . Pierre Clément de Laussat ( Governor , 1803) said: "Saint-Domingue was, of all our colonies in the Antilles,
19635-412: The city; the 2020 American Community Survey determined an estimated 189,890 people resided in the city, purporting a slight population rebound. 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
19822-426: The coming of riverboat 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, and mosaics were added to create a better pedestrian environment. The O.K. Allen Bridge, commonly known as
20009-951: The culture, the Atchafalaya Basin Mounds in St. Mary Parish, the Fitzhugh Mounds in Madison Parish, the Scott Place Mounds in Union Parish, and the Sims site in St. Charles Parish. Plaquemine culture was contemporaneous with the Middle Mississippian culture that is represented by its largest settlement, the Cahokia site in Illinois east of St. Louis, Missouri . At its peak Cahokia
20196-502: The design of boilers and engine components so that they could withstand internal pressure, although boiler explosions were common due to lack of instrumentation like pressure gauges. Attempts at making high-pressure engines had to wait until the expiration of the Boulton and Watt patent in 1800. Shortly thereafter high-pressure engines by Richard Trevithick and Oliver Evans were introduced. The compound steam engine became widespread in
20383-436: The desired New Orleans area), and that approval from President Jefferson might take months, so Livingston and Monroe decided to open negotiations immediately. By April 30, they closed a deal for the purchase of the entire Louisiana territory of 828,000 square miles (2,100,000 km ) for sixty million Francs (approximately $ 15 million). Part of this sum, $ 3.5 million, was used to forgive debts owed by France to
20570-427: The discovery of oil in Louisiana, became a national center for the oil industry. Standard Oil of Louisiana and United Gas Corporation were headquartered in the city until the 1960s and 1980s, respectively. After the loss of jobs in the oil industry, the closure of General Motors ' Shreveport Operations , and other economic problems, it struggled with a declining population, poverty, drugs, and violent crime. However,
20757-756: The first platform mounds at ritual centers were constructed for the developing hereditary political and religious leadership. By 400 the Late Woodland period had begun with the Baytown culture , Troyville culture , and Coastal Troyville during the Baytown period and were succeeded by the Coles Creek cultures . Where the Baytown peoples built dispersed settlements, the Troyville people instead continued building major earthwork centers. Population increased dramatically and there
20944-673: The first in a continuous (still in commercial passenger operation as of 2007 ) line of river steamboats left the dock at Pittsburgh to steam down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and on to New Orleans. In 1817 a consortium in Sackets Harbor, New York , funded the construction of the first US steamboat, Ontario , to run on Lake Ontario and the Great Lakes, beginning the growth of lake commercial and passenger traffic . In his book Life on
21131-507: The first people in the area of Louisiana to make large amounts of pottery. These cultures lasted until 200 AD. The Middle Woodland period started in Louisiana with the Marksville culture in the southern and eastern part of the state, reaching across the Mississippi River to the east around Natchez, and the Fourche Maline culture in the northwestern part of the state. The Marksville culture
21318-534: The first two African slaves to Louisiana in 1708, transporting them from a French colony in the West Indies. In 1709, French financier Antoine Crozat obtained a monopoly of commerce in La Louisiane , which extended from the Gulf of Mexico to what is now Illinois . According to historian Hugh Thomas , "that concession allowed him to bring in a cargo of blacks from Africa every year". Starting in 1719, traders began to import slaves in higher numbers; two French ships,
21505-451: The first use of marine steam propulsion in scheduled regular passenger transport service. Oliver Evans (1755–1819) was a Philadelphian inventor born in Newport, Delaware , to a family of Welsh settlers. He designed an improved high-pressure steam engine in 1801 but did not build it (patented 1804). The Philadelphia Board of Health was concerned with the problem of dredging and cleaning
21692-680: The gold fields. Steam-powered tugboats and towboats started working in the San Francisco Bay soon after this to expedite shipping in and out of the bay. As the passenger, mail and high value freight business to and from California boomed more and more paddle steamers were brought into service—eleven by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company alone. The trip to and from California via Panama and paddle wheeled steamers could be done, if there were no waits for shipping, in about 40 days—over 100 days less than by wagon or 160 days less than
21879-474: The influence of New England Federalists in national affairs. President Jefferson was an enthusiastic supporter of westward expansion, and held firm in his support for the treaty. Despite Federalist objections, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana treaty on October 20, 1803. By statute enacted on October 31, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson was authorized to take possession of the territories ceded by France and provide for initial governance. A transfer ceremony
22066-471: The interaction of whites (blancs) and blacks (noirs) in its colony of Louisiana (which was much larger than the current state of Louisiana). After the Sale of Louisiana , French Law survived in the Louisiana, such as the prohibition and outlaw of any cruel punishment. Fugitive slaves, called maroons , could easily hide in the backcountry of the bayous and survive in small settlements. The word "maroon" comes from
22253-520: The islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe to the French. Napoleon looked upon Louisiana as a depot for these sugar islands, and as a buffer to U.S. settlement. In October 1801 he sent a large military force to take back Saint-Domingue, then under control of Toussaint Louverture after the Haitian Revolution . When the army led by Napoleon's brother-in-law Leclerc was defeated, Napoleon decided to sell Louisiana. Thomas Jefferson , third president of
22440-477: 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 to Cross 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
22627-418: The late 19th century. Compounding uses exhaust steam from a high pressure cylinder to a lower pressure cylinder and greatly improves efficiency. With compound engines it was possible for trans ocean steamers to carry less coal than freight. Compound steam engine powered ships enabled a great increase in international trade. The most efficient steam engine used for marine propulsion is the steam turbine . It
22814-530: The loads and strains imposed by the paddle wheels when they encountered rough water. The first paddle-steamer to make a long ocean voyage was the 320-ton 98-foot-long (30 m) SS Savannah , built in 1819 expressly for packet ship mail and passenger service to and from Liverpool , England. On 22 May 1819, the watch on the Savannah sighted Ireland after 23 days at sea. The Allaire Iron Works of New York supplied Savannah's 's engine cylinder , while
23001-530: The mainline United Methodist Church . The Roman Catholic community is primarily served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shreveport . Of note among its predominantly Baptist population, the First Baptist Church of Shreveport was once pastored by Monroe E. Dodd, founder of the former Dodd College for Girls . Former Governor Jimmie Davis , also a Shreveport city commissioner, taught history for
23188-491: The major rivers. Their success led to penetration deep into the continent, where Anson Northup in 1859 became first steamer to cross the Canada–US border on the Red River . They would also be involved in major political events, as when Louis Riel seized International at Fort Garry , or Gabriel Dumont was engaged by Northcote at Batoche . Steamboats were held in such high esteem that they could become state symbols;
23375-488: 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. The per capita income was $ 25,022. By the 2020 American Community Survey, its median household income increased to $ 40,809. The median income for families grew to $ 54,023 with
23562-539: The mid-1950s, KWKH was the first major radio station to feature the music of Presley on its long-running Louisiana Hayride program at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. Horace Logan, long-term KWKH program manager and originator of the Hayride , and Frank Page introduced Presley on the Hayride . African American veterans of World War II were among activists in Shreveport through the 1960s who worked in
23749-482: 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. In September, 1941, the capture of the city of Shreveport was the objective of a U.S. Army war game, or military exercise , known as
23936-430: The modern state of Louisiana. The French settlement had two purposes: to establish trade with the Spanish in Texas via the Old San Antonio Road, and to deter Spanish advances into Louisiana. The settlement soon became a flourishing river port and crossroads, giving rise to vast cotton kingdoms along the river that were worked by imported African slaves. Over time, planters developed large plantations and built fine homes in
24123-399: The next year. Miller then abandoned the project. The failed project of Patrick Miller caught the attention of Lord Dundas , Governor of the Forth and Clyde Canal Company, and at a meeting with the canal company's directors on 5 June 1800, they approved his proposals for the use of "a model of a boat by Captain Schank to be worked by a steam engine by Mr Symington" on the canal. The boat
24310-438: The north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states , it ranks 20th in land area and the 25th in population , with roughly 4.6 million residents. Reflecting its French heritage , Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes , which are equivalent to counties , making it one of only two U.S. states not subdivided into counties (the other being Alaska and its boroughs ). Baton Rouge
24497-410: The northern and eastern bounds of his domain as the Wabash valley up to the mouth of the Vermilion River (near present-day Danville, Illinois ); from there, northwest to le Rocher on the Illinois River , and from there west to the mouth of the Rock River (at present day Rock Island, Illinois ). Thus, Vincennes and Peoria were the limit of Louisiana's reach; the outposts at Ouiatenon (on
24684-442: The oldest settlement of Asians in the United States in the village of Saint Malo, Louisiana , the inhabitants of which, even joined the United States in the War of 1812 against the British Empire while they were being led by the French-American Jean Lafitte . Spanish occupation of Louisiana lasted from 1769 to 1800. Beginning in the 1790s, waves of immigration took place from Saint-Domingue as refugees poured over following
24871-441: The one whose mentality and customs influenced Louisiana the most." When the United States won its independence from Great Britain in 1783, one of its major concerns was having a European power on its western boundary, and the need for unrestricted access to the Mississippi River. As American settlers pushed west, they found that the Appalachian Mountains provided a barrier to shipping goods eastward. The easiest way to ship produce
25058-559: The pamphleteer Thomas Paine to enforce existing federal law against slavery in the newly acquired territory, slavery prevailed because it was the source of great profits and the lowest-cost labor. At the start of the 19th century, Louisiana was a small producer of sugar with a relatively small number of slaves, compared to Saint-Domingue and the West Indies. It soon thereafter became a major sugar producer as new settlers arrived to develop plantations. William C. C. Claiborne , Louisiana's first United States governor, said African slave labor
25245-462: The peoples adopted extensive maize agriculture, cultivating different strains of the plant by saving seeds, selecting for certain characteristics, etc. The Plaquemine culture in the lower Mississippi River Valley in western Mississippi and eastern Louisiana began in 1200 and continued to about 1600. Examples in Louisiana include the Medora site , the archaeological type site for the culture in West Baton Rouge Parish whose characteristics helped define
25432-462: The piston back and forth. The rotary steam engine simplified the mechanism required to turn a paddle wheel to propel a boat. Despite the improved efficiency and rotary motion, the power-to-weight ratio of Boulton and Watt steam engine was still low. The high-pressure steam engine was the development that made the steamboat practical. It had a high power-to-weight ratio and was fuel efficient. High pressure engines were made possible by improvements in
25619-521: The population was Hispanic or Latino American of any race. Reflecting the decline in North Louisiana's population, the city of Shreveport's racial and ethnic makeup among Hispanic and Latino Americans declined from 2010 yet rebounded from 2019's census estimates. 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
25806-630: The population. Data from the 2020 United States census reflected growing trends of Hispanic and Latino, and Asian American population growth nationwide. Christianity is the city and metropolitan area's dominant religion, being part of the Bible Belt . Its residents were predominantly Protestant through the nineteenth century, and today, Baptists form the majority of Christians in Shreveport, followed by Methodists and Roman Catholics . Many Baptist and Methodist churches are affiliated with evangelical Protestant denominations, though several are also affiliated with mainline Protestantism ; among Baptists,
25993-585: The pressure for Anglicization , and in 1921, English was shortly made the sole language of instruction in Louisiana schools before a policy of multilingualism was revived in 1974. Louisiana has never had an official language, and the state constitution enumerates "the right of the people to preserve, foster, and promote their respective historic, linguistic, and cultural origins." Based on national averages, Louisiana frequently ranks low among U.S. states in terms of health, education, and development, with high rates of poverty and homicide . In 2018, Louisiana
26180-565: The racial and ethnic makeup of Shreveport was 56.9% Black and African American , 36.8% non-Hispanic white , 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native , 1.7% Asian , 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander , 0.1% some other race, 1.5% two or more races , and 2.6% Hispanic and Latino American of any race. At the 2010 U.S. census, 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. In 2010, about 6.5% of
26367-416: The region. The bureau maintains a comprehensive database of restaurants, accommodations, attractions, and events. Louisiana Louisiana (French: Louisiane [lwizjan] ; Spanish: Luisiana [lwiˈsjana] ; Louisiana Creole : Lwizyàn ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States . It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to
26554-470: The rest of the engine components and running gear were manufactured by the Speedwell Ironworks of New Jersey . The 90-horsepower (67 kW) low-pressure engine was of the inclined direct-acting type, with a single 40-inch-diameter (100 cm) cylinder and a 5-foot (1.5 m) stroke. Savannah 's engine and machinery were unusually large for their time. The ship's wrought-iron paddlewheels were 16 feet in diameter with eight buckets per wheel. For fuel,
26741-447: The rest of the southern U.S., Louisiana is multilingual and multicultural, reflecting an admixture of Louisiana French ( Cajun , Creole ), Spanish , French Canadian , Acadian , Saint-Domingue Creole , Native American , and West African cultures (generally the descendants of slaves stolen in the 18th century); more recent migrants include Filipinos and Vietnamese. In the post–Civil War environment , Anglo-Americans increased
26928-455: The revitalization plan of the Shreveport Economic Recovery Task Force after the Cross Bayou redevelopment plan was rejected. In June 2020, rapper Hurricane Chris was arrested in Shreveport for second-degree murder . Following the George Floyd killing in Minnesota, multiple protests were held in the city. Shreveport is located in Northwest Louisiana . It is the center of the Ark-La-Tex region where Arkansas , Louisiana, and Texas meet. It
27115-429: The river for U.S. commerce. Livingston was authorized to pay up to $ 2 million. An official transfer of Louisiana to French ownership had not yet taken place, and Napoleon's deal with the Spanish was a poorly kept secret on the frontier. On October 18, 1802, however, Juan Ventura Morales, acting intendant of Louisiana, made public the intention of Spain to revoke the right of deposit at New Orleans for all cargo from
27302-500: The river would be delayed until later in the decade. In 1765, during Spanish rule, several thousand Acadians from the French colony of Acadia (now Nova Scotia , New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island ) made their way to Louisiana after having been expelled from Acadia by the British government after the French and Indian War. They settled chiefly in the southwestern Louisiana region now called Acadiana . The governor Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga , eager to gain more settlers, welcomed
27489-464: The same quantity of fuel and longer distances could be traveled. A steamship built in 1855 required about 40% of its available cargo space to store enough coal to cross the Atlantic, but by the 1860s, transatlantic steamship services became cost-effective and steamships began to dominate these routes. By the 1870s, particularly in conjunction with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, South Asia became economically accessible for steamships from Europe. By
27676-467: The screw propeller had been invented and was slowly being introduced as iron increasingly was used in ship construction and the stress introduced by propellers could be compensated for. As the 1800s progressed the timber and lumber needed to make wooden ships got ever more expensive, and the iron plate needed for iron ship construction got much cheaper as the massive iron works at Merthyr Tydfil , Wales, for example, got ever more efficient. The propeller put
27863-451: The side or rear. River steamboats typically used rear-mounted paddles and had flat bottoms and shallow hulls designed to carry large loads on generally smooth and occasionally shallow rivers. Ocean-going paddle steamers typically used side-wheeled paddles and used narrower, deeper hulls designed to travel in the often stormy weather encountered at sea. The ship hull design was often based on the clipper ship design with extra bracing to support
28050-491: The size of the country. Jefferson's political opponents in the Federalist Party argued the Louisiana purchase was a worthless desert, and that the U.S. constitution did not provide for the acquisition of new land or negotiating treaties without the consent of the federal legislature. What really worried the opposition was the new states which would inevitably be carved from the Louisiana territory, strengthening western and southern interests in U.S. Congress , and further reducing
28237-430: The state capital of Baton Rouge , 99 miles (159 km) from Monroe , 69 miles (111 km) from Ruston , and 30 miles (48 km) from Minden , Louisiana. The city's proximity to the nearby cities makes it North Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex's transportation hub. Shreveport is the parish seat of Caddo Parish . Portions of the city extend into neighboring Bossier Parish , bordering Bossier City . Shreveport sits on
28424-419: The state is forested. Louisiana is situated at the confluence of the Mississippi river system and the Gulf of Mexico. Its location and biodiversity attracted various indigenous groups thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the 17th century. Louisiana has eighteen Native American tribes—the most of any southern state—of which four are federally recognized and ten are state-recognized. The French claimed
28611-416: 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. 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
28798-451: The state. The city of modern–day Epps developed near it. The Poverty Point culture may have reached its peak around 1500 BC, making it the first complex culture, and possibly the first tribal culture in North America. It lasted until approximately 700 BC. The Poverty Point culture was followed by the Tchefuncte and Lake Cormorant cultures of the Tchula period , local manifestations of Early Woodland period . The Tchefuncte culture were
28985-423: The summer of 1818 she was the first steamboat to travel round the North of Scotland to the East Coast. By 1826, steamboats were employed on a large number of inland and coastal shipping lines in the United Kingdom. Some of the latter crossed the Irish Sea , others crossed the English Channel to Calais or Boulogne-sur-Mer , or crossed the North Sea to Rotterdam. At the time, the General Steam Navigation Company
29172-429: The territory in 1682, and it became the political, commercial, and population center of the larger colony of New France . From 1762 to 1801 Louisiana was under Spanish rule, briefly returning to French rule before being sold by Napoleon to the U.S. in 1803. It was admitted to the Union in 1812 as the 18th state. Following statehood, Louisiana saw an influx of settlers from the eastern U.S. as well as immigrants from
29359-413: 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, carrying mostly cotton and agricultural crops from the plantations of Caddo Parish. Shreveport also had a slave market, though slave trading was not as widespread as in other parts of
29546-430: The union victory at Vicksburg reopened the river on 4 July 1863. The triumph of Eads ironclads, and Farragut's seizure of New Orleans, secured the river for the Union North. Although Union forces gained control of Mississippi River tributaries, travel there was still subject to interdiction by the Confederates. The Ambush of the steamboat J. R. Williams , which was carrying supplies from Fort Smith to Fort Gibson along
29733-399: The upper Wabash near present-day Lafayette, Indiana ), Chicago, Fort Miamis (near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana ), and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin , operated as dependencies of Canada. The settlement of Natchitoches (along the Red River in present-day northwest Louisiana) was established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis , making it the oldest permanent European settlement in
29920-414: The vessel carried 75 short tons (68 t) of coal and 25 cords (91 m ) of wood. The SS Savannah was too small to carry much fuel, and the engine was intended only for use in calm weather and to get in and out of harbors. Under favorable winds the sails alone were able to provide a speed of at least four knots. The Savannah was judged not a commercial success, and its engine was removed and it
30107-444: 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 in the 21st century. 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
30294-433: The years but closed in 2001) Honeywell UOP , Libbey-Owens-Ford , Beaird-Poulan (the originator of and, for decades, the only manufacturer of the single-operator chainsaw in the world), Calumet Specialty Products Partners (originally United Gas Corporation 's Atlas Processing Unit and then Pennzoil ), and Frymaster, LLC (a subsidiary of The Manitowoc Company ). Today, only Calumet Packaging and Honeywell UOP survive as
30481-408: 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. 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,
30668-421: Was built about 5400 BP (3500 BC). These discoveries overturned previous assumptions in archaeology that such complex mounds were built only by cultures of more settled peoples who were dependent on maize cultivation. The Hedgepeth Site in Lincoln Parish is more recent, dated to 5200–4500 BP (3300–2600 BC). Nearly 2,000 years later, Poverty Point was built; it is the largest and best-known Late Archaic site in
30855-413: Was built by Alexander Hart at Grangemouth to Symington's design with a vertical cylinder engine and crosshead transmitting power to a crank driving the paddlewheels. Trials on the River Carron in June 1801 were successful and included towing sloops from the river Forth up the Carron and thence along the Forth and Clyde Canal . In 1801, Symington patented a horizontal steam engine directly linked to
31042-465: Was built in 1807, North River Steamboat (later known as Clermont ), which carried passengers between New York City and Albany, New York . Clermont was able to make the 150-mile (240 km) trip in 32 hours. The steamboat was powered by a Boulton and Watt engine and was capable of long-distance travel. It was the first commercially successful steamboat, transporting passengers along the Hudson River . In 1807 Robert L. Stevens began operation of
31229-491: Was converted back to a regular sailing ship. By 1848 steamboats built by both United States and British shipbuilders were already in use for mail and passenger service across the Atlantic Ocean—a 3,000 miles (4,800 km) journey. Since paddle steamers typically required from 5 to 16 short tons (4.5 to 14.5 t) of coal per day to keep their engines running, they were more expensive to run. Initially, nearly all seagoing steamboats were equipped with mast and sails to supplement
31416-406: Was developed near the end of the 19th century and was used throughout the 20th century. An apocryphal story from 1851 attributes the earliest steamboat to Denis Papin for a boat he built in 1705. Papin was an early innovator in steam power and the inventor of the steam digester , the first pressure cooker , which played an important role in James Watt 's steam experiments. However, Papin's boat
31603-431: Was engineered as a twin-screw-driven steamboat in juxtaposition to Clermont ' s Boulton and Watt engine. The design was a modification of Stevens' prior paddle steamer Phoenix , the first steamship to successfully navigate the open ocean in its route from Hoboken to Philadelphia. In 1812, Henry Bell's PS Comet was inaugurated. The steamboat was the first commercial passenger service in Europe and sailed along
31790-403: 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 Captain Henry Miller Shreve , who led the United States Army Corps of Engineers efforts 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 ,
31977-431: Was formerly a major player in United States oil business, and once hosted the Standard Oil of Louisiana offices, a branch of Standard Oil . The Louisiana branch was later absorbed by Standard 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 a hostile takeover in 1968, and forced
32164-476: Was fought over two days with steam-powered ironclad warships , 8–9 March 1862. The battle occurred in Hampton Roads , a roadstead in Virginia where the Elizabeth and Nansemond Rivers meet the James River just before it enters Chesapeake Bay adjacent to the city of Norfolk . The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederate States of America to break the Union Naval blockade, which had cut off Virginia from all international trade. The Civil War in
32351-403: Was founded in 1699 by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville , a French military officer from New France . By then the French had also built a small fort at the mouth of the Mississippi at a settlement they named La Balise (or La Balize) , " seamark " in French. By 1721, they built a 62-foot (19 m) wooden lighthouse-type structure here to guide ships on the river. A royal ordinance of 1722—following
32538-422: Was held in New Orleans on November 29, 1803. Since the Louisiana territory had never officially been turned over to the French, the Spanish took down their flag, and the French raised theirs. The following day, General James Wilkinson accepted possession of New Orleans for the United States. The Louisiana Territory, purchased for less than three cents an acre, doubled the size of the United States overnight, without
32725-457: 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 to Washington, D.C. , to personally present
32912-453: Was likewise pastored by Dr. E. Edward Jones, another civil rights icon. Among its Methodist churches has been the large First 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. It has since been replaced. A second prominent Methodist congregation
33099-400: Was named after the Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site in Avoyelles Parish . These cultures were contemporaneous with the Hopewell cultures of present-day Ohio and Illinois , and participated in the Hopewell Exchange Network. Trade with peoples to the southwest brought the bow and arrow . The first burial mounds were built at this time. Political power began to be consolidated, as
33286-445: Was needed because white laborers "cannot be had in this unhealthy climate." Hugh Thomas wrote that Claiborne was unable to enforce the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade, which the U.S. and Great Britain enacted in 1807. The United States continued to protect the domestic slave trade, including the coastwise trade—the transport of slaves by ship along the Atlantic Coast and to New Orleans and other Gulf ports. By 1840, New Orleans had
33473-515: Was not before 1850 that enough paddle wheel steamers were available in the Atlantic and Pacific routes to establish regularly scheduled journeys. Other steamships soon followed, and by late 1849, paddle wheel steamships like the SS McKim (1848) were carrying miners and their supplies the 125 miles (201 km) trip from San Francisco up the extensive Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta to Stockton, California , Marysville, California , Sacramento , etc. to get about 125 miles (201 km) closer to
33660-501: Was not steam-powered but powered by hand-cranked paddles. A steamboat was described and patented by English physician John Allen in 1729. In 1736, Jonathan Hulls was granted a patent in England for a Newcomen engine-powered steamboat (using a pulley instead of a beam, and a pawl and ratchet to obtain rotary motion), but it was the improvement in steam engines by James Watt that made the concept feasible. William Henry of Lancaster, Pennsylvania , having learned of Watt's engine on
33847-435: Was one of the biggest companies that operated steamboats in short-sea shipping . The Talbot operated by GSNC on the London - Calais line had a tonnage of 156 and 60 hp. Steamships required carrying fuel (coal) at the expense of the regular payload. For this reason for some time sailships remained more economically viable for long voyages. However, as the steam engine technology improved, more power could be generated by
34034-463: Was present at the trials of the Charlotte Dundas and was intrigued by the potential of the steamboat. While working in France, he corresponded with and was helped by the Scottish engineer Henry Bell , who may have given him the first model of his working steamboat. Fulton designed his own steamboat, which sailed along the River Seine in 1803. Fulton later obtained a Boulton and Watt steam engine, shipped to America, where his first proper steamship
34221-437: Was ranked as the least healthy state in the country, with high levels of drug-related deaths . It also has had the highest homicide rate in the United States since at least the 1990s. Louisiana was named after Louis XIV , King of France from 1643 to 1715. When René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane . The suffix –ana (or –ane)
34408-426: Was second only to New Orleans in Louisiana tourism. Nearby Bossier City is home to one of the three horse racetracks in the state, Louisiana Downs . Casinos in Shreveport-Bossier include Sam's Town , Bally's , Horseshoe , Boomtown , and Margaritaville . Diamond Jacks Casino (formerly Isle of Capri) closed in 2020. The Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau is the official tourism information agency for
34595-403: Was settled by French colonists from Illinois. Initially, Mobile and then Biloxi served as the capital of La Louisiane. Recognizing the importance of the Mississippi River to trade and military interests, and wanting to protect the capital from severe coastal storms, France developed New Orleans from 1722 as the seat of civilian and military authority south of the Great Lakes. From then until
34782-426: Was taken to the nearby Barksdale Air Force Base . He also made a visit to speak in the city on March 11, 2005. 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. City data from 2017 showed a dramatic increase in certain violent crimes from the previous year, including a 138 percent increase in homicides,
34969-452: Was to use a flatboat to float it down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the port of New Orleans, where goods could be put on ocean-going vessels. The problem with this route was that the Spanish owned both sides of the Mississippi below Natchez . Napoleon's ambitions in Louisiana involved the creation of a new empire centered on the Caribbean sugar trade . By the terms of the Treaty of Amiens of 1802, Great Britain returned control of
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