Welcome to Shreveport!
Shreveport is the largest city in Northern Louisiana, part of the twin city metro of Shreveport-Bossier City, and is considered the principal city in the three-state region known as the "Ark-La-Tex." It has about 188,000 residents (2019) and is in the area of the state designated as Sportsman's Paradise. Many lakes and rivers are in the area and offer recreational activities. The surrounding area is also in contrast to points in southern Louisiana, in that the landscape is marked by rolling hills and pine forests, being an extension of the Texas region known as the Piney Woods.
Shreveport is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the most populous one in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, and ranks third in population in Louisiana after Baton Rouge and New Orleans, with the Lafayette consolidated population in 2019, it ranks fourth in population. Its bulk is in Caddo Parish, of which it is the parish seat. It extends along the west bank of the Red River (most notably at Wright Island, the Charles and Marie Hamel Memorial Park, and Bagley Island) into neighboring Bossier Parish. Its population was 199,311 at the 2010 U.S. census. The United States Census Bureau's 2020 census for the city's population decreased to 187,593. 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. Prior to Texas becoming independent, this trail entered Mexico. It grew throughout the 20th century and, after the discovery of oil in Louisiana, became a national center for the oil industry. Standard Oil of Louisiana (absorbed by Standard Oil of New Jersey and now part of ExxonMobil) and United Gas Corporation (now part of Pennzoil) were headquartered in it until the 1960s and 1980s. After the loss of jobs in the oil industry, the close of Shreveport Operations (a General Motors vehicle factory), and other economic problems it struggled with a declining population, poverty, drugs, and violent crime. Since Cedric Glover's tenure as the mayor, it began efforts to revitalize its infrastructure to end its population decline, revive the economy through diversification, and lower crime. Shreveport is the educational, commercial, and cultural center of the Ark-La-Tex region, where Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas meet. It is the location of Centenary College of Louisiana, Louisiana State University Shreveport, Louisiana Tech University Shreveport, Southern University at Shreveport, and Louisiana Baptist University. Its neighboring suburb, Bossier City, is the location of Bossier Parish Community College. It forms part of the I-20 Cyber Corridor linking Shreveport, Bossier City, Ruston, Grambling, and Monroe to Dallas and Tyler, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia. 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, Chick-fil-A, Waffle House, SWEPCO, General Electric, UOP LLC, Calumet Specialty Products Partners, and APS Payroll.