Shreveport

Shreveport, which was founded in 1836, is the 3rd largest city in the state of Louisiana - with an estimated population of over 180,000 residents. The majority of the city is located in Caddo Parish. However, interestingly enough, a small portion of the city bleeds into Bossier Parish. Shreveport is often referred to as the 'Jewel of the Ark-La-Tex' as is widely considered the educational, commercial and cultural center of the region. It is the home of Centenary College, LSU Health Shreveport and numerous casinos just to name a few. It will also be the future home to a massive Amazon distribution center.

Starting in 2006, Shreveport was often called 'Hollywood South' as it was home to several major film productions including 'The Guardian', 'The Mist', 'Straw Dogs', 'Drive Angry', 'Texas Chainsaw 3D' and countless others. In recent years, those Hollywood productions have fallen off. However, Shreveport has been home to 'Louisiana Film Prize', a short film festival featuring short films shot in our area from directors all over the world. Speaking of the arts, Shreveport was the original home of the Louisiana Hayride - that radio show launched the careers of several major musical artists including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Hank Williams.

Interesting Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Shreveport:

Shreveport is known as the “Cradle of Stars” due to the amount of famous celebrities the city produced including Terry Bradshaw, Bill Joyce, James Burton, Johnnie Cochran and others.
id Software, the video game company that launched several successful franchises including Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake, was founded right here in Shreveport.
Shreveport was first settled in 1803 as ‘Shreve Town’. It officially became incorporated and renamed Shreveport in 1839.
Shreveport has one of the ‘coolest’ dive bars in America. Lucky Liquor always makes national lists for being one of the best dive bars in America and having one of the best juke boxes in the US. It was also featured in the opening credits of True Blood.
Shriners Hospital in Shreveport was the first Shriners Hospital in the US