| Communities | Economy | History / Markers | Local Government |
| Location / Geography | Media | Parks and Recreation | Schools and Libraries |
| Parish Map | Top of page | ||
Blanchard Gilliam Greenwood Hosston Ida Mooringsport Oil City Rodessa Shreveport Vivian |
|
Unincorporated areas of interest in the parish include Bethany, Caspiana, Cecile, Cedar Grove, Dixie, Flournoy, Forbing, Four Forks, Gayles, Lachute, Longwood, La Rosen, Lucas, Mira, Myrtis, Preston, Sandra, Sentell, Shipp, Spring Ridge, Summer Grove, Trees, and Zylks, Other areas of interest: Shreve Square;Caddo Lake; Black Bayou Lake; Cross Lake; The American Rose Center; R. RS. Barnwell Memorial Art and Garden Center; Austin Place; Casplana Plantation; Coates Bluff Postique; Confederate Memorial; Fort Humbug; Strand Theatre; Southern University, Shreveport, Bossier Campus; Northwestern State University of Nursing; LSU - Shreveport; Centenary College; Baptist Christian College; Faith Bible College of Shreveport. Events: Greenwood Pioneer Days. Gusher Day, Holiday in Dixie. Louisiana State Fair, Poke Salad Festival, Red River Revel, Redbud Festival, Independence Bowl. |
|
Shreveport Chamber of Commerce 529 Crockett Road Shreveport 318-226-8521 |
Soda Lake Wildlife Management Area |
|
Cane-Bennett Bluff Centenary College Church of the Holy Cross Episcopal Coates Bluff Confederate Naval Yard Fort Humbug The Great Raft Huddie Leadbelly Ledbetter Shreveport Strand Theatre |
History | |
| 1803 |
Larkin Edwards immigrates, from Tennessee. He the first settler near a Native American village on Coates Bluff overlooking what is Shreveport today. He befriends the Indians who give him the land and acts as an interpreter. Edwards sells his land to Angus McNeil and the Shreve Town Company. Among the first buyers are Cane and Bennett who have established a trading post. |
| 1805 |
When the Territory of Orleans is divided into counties the present-day Caddo Parish is part of Natchitoches. |
| 1817 |
James Coates moves into the area. |
| 1832 |
The Cane-Bennett Trading Post established July 1, by James Cane and his brother-in-law William Smith Bennett, both from New Hampshire, on the bluff where Shreveport will be founded 1836. |
| 1833 |
Captain Henry Miller Shreve comes to the Red River in 1833 . He has been hired by the U. S. government to remove the 165 mile-long log jam , extending from Loggy Bayou to Hurricane Bluffs. When rival community called Coates Bluff springs up nearby, the Shreve Town Company hires Captain Shreve to divert he river slightly, leaving Coates Bluff high and dry. |
| 1835 |
On July 1, 1835. Caddo Indians ceded about 1,000,000 acres to the U.S. for $80,000 at the Caddo Agency House, By this treaty the Indians also gave to Larkin Edwards, interpreter and friend, a tract of land that later became the site of Shreveport. John McLeod settles in the area. |
| 1837 |
With the help of four steam boats and about 160 men Shreve completes the removal of the raft, opening the Red River to navigation and making Shreveport an important center of trade and gateway to the West. |
| 1838 January |
Caddo Parish is created by the Louisiana legislature in 1838, the house of Thomas Wallace located on the south shore of Wallace Lake, is designated the first seat of justice or courthouse. In 1838 Leonidas Polk is named missionary bishop of the southwest and the next year he held the first religious service in Shreveport. |
| 1839 |
The city of Shreveport is founded and incorporated by Shreve Town Co. Feb. 4, is named for Captain Henry Miller Shreve, who opened Red River to navigation, making the city a Southwest gateway and trading center. Shreveport is incorporated on March 20, 1839. |
| 1845 February 14 |
The First Baptist Church of Shreveport is established by John Bryce, who is sent from Virginia by the federal government to collect customs on goods comming from the neighboring Republic of Texas. The First Methodist Church and the First Presbyterial Churhc were also established this year. |
| 1855 |
By one vote over Greenwood Shreveport is selected as the parish seat. The courthouse that is constructed becomes the capitol building of the state during the war. |
| 1856 |
Trinity Catholic Church is established in Shreveport, Holy Trinity was moved to this site in 1858. Five of its priests lost their lives treating the victims of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1873. The present church, in Romanesque Revival style, was built in 1896. |
| 1863 |
Shreveport becomes the war-time capital of Louisiana. With Caddo parish one of the few Louisiana areas that remains under control of the confederacy many southern Louisianians flee to Shreveport, swelling its population by 300%. |
| 1865 |
Having repelled the Union forces under General Banks at Mansfield the confederate forces at Shreveport are the last to surrender to the North. Given the earliest succession movement at Rocky Mount and the last surrender of troops, Caddo Parish can be considered both the birthplace and the last breath of the rebellious South. |
| 1872 |
The Symphony House in Shreveport is built by Col. Robert H. Lindsay as a residence, and is a transition between Greek Revival and Victorian architecture. |
| 1873 |
Shreveport and Dallas are connected by rail. The city's recovery from the war has been rapid compared to the ravaged parishes down river, but a yellow fever epidemic this year kills hundreds in the area. |
| 1904 |
The first oil well is drilled in Caddo Parish. |
| 1908 |
Centenary College, the oldest liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River, relocates in Shreveport. |
| 1910 |
Shreveport Chamber of Commerce is founded. It was instrumental in the establishment of Barksdale Air Force Base and the return of navigation to the Red River, The Shreveport Regional Arts Council, a sports foundation a Downtown Development Authroity and other economic development programs. |
| 1911 |
The first oil well to be drilled offshore, in Caddo Lake, helps establish Shreveport as a regional oil center. |
| 1925 |
The neo baroque Strand Theatre built in Shreveport by architect Emile Weil and interior designer Paul Heerwagen. It has a huge stage and a 939 pipe organ. The first performance is The Chocolate Soldier by the Fortune Gallo Comic Opera Company. |
| 1932 |
Downtown Municipal Airport in Shreveport is completed. |
| 1952 |
The Shreveport Regional Airport in Shreveport is completed. |
Black Bayou Black Bayou Lake Boggy Bayou Caddo Lake Cross Lake Cypress Bayou Kelly Bayou Paw Paw Bayou Red River Wallace Bayou Wallace Lake |
|
|
|
Education |
|
Director -Pelton 424 Texas St. P. O. Box 21523 Shreveport, LA 71120 Email - jpelton@smlnet.sml.lib.la.us or jlsalter@smlnet.sml.lib.la.us 19 Branches - Atkins, Belcher, Blanchard, Broadmoor, Cedar Grove, Extension Center, Gilliam, Hamilton, Higginbotham, Hosston, Means, Mooringsport, North Caddo, Oil City, David Raines, Rodessa, South Caddo, Wallette, West Shreveport, 2 Bookmobiles. John F Magale Memorial Library Director -Paula Bryars 2911 Centenary Blvd. P. O. Box 41188 Shreveport, LA 71134-1188 Email - libecker@beta.centenary.edu or cwrenn@beta.centenary.edu www.centenary.edu/magale/index.html Director -Paula Bryars 424 Texas P. O. Box 21523 Shreveport, LA 71120 Email - Museum Dirirector - Ronald Dean 875 Cotton St. Shreveport, LA 71101 Email - Noel Memorial Library Director - One University Pl. Shreveport, LA 71115-2399 Email - www.lsus.edu/library American Library Directory 1999-2000, R. R. Bowker |
