Shreveport & the Red River
Shreveport's museums and landmark auditorium, the Mansfield battlefield, Lake Bistineau, the Germantown commune and Oil City on the Red River in northwest Louisiana.
The Caddo were here first. The Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport keeps a Caddo log boat about 30 feet long and roughly 1,000 years old, excavated from the Red River. The river was blocked by the Great Raft, a log jam more than 400 miles long, and the lakes it backed up include Lake Bistineau. Its state park opened in 1946, with a separate section for Black visitors added in 1956. At the Louisiana State Oil and Gas Museum in Oil City, the old log jam is an exhibit and the 1905 Savage well is the story.
Shreveport's buildings carry the city's history. The Water Works Museum kept its steam pumps running from 1887 to 1980. The Spring Street Museum tells of the Freedman's Savings and Trust branch that opened in late 1870. The Municipal Auditorium sent the Louisiana Hayride out over KWKH from 1948 to 1960 and put Elvis Presley on its stage on October 16, 1954, and the R. W. Norton Art Gallery's collection and azalea gardens were paid for by Rodessa oil.
Beyond the city, Mansfield's battlefield recalls April 8, 1864, in cotton country worked by enslaved people. Germantown, near Minden, was a religious commune from 1836 to 1871, and its log buildings still stand. In Grambling, the Eddie G. Robinson Museum follows the coach who won 408 games there between 1941 and 1997, after a boyhood spent cleaning a stadium at 5 a.m. to be allowed to watch.
What to See in Shreveport & the Red River
10 places across the region, grouped by what they are.
Hikes & Trails
Historic Sites
Towns & Gateways
Architecture
Industry & Mining
Stories from Shreveport & the Red River
Shreveport & the Red River rewards the unhurried. Pick a base, fan out, and let the country between the headline stops surprise you.
← Explore more of Open Road Guide