Discover Shreveport

Shreveport offers a range of themes to consider when planning your trip: historic buildings and collections, music history, and experiences involving puzzles and the stars. If you’re looking for a hotel in Shreveport, your personal interests can help you organize your trip. First, consider whether you’re most interested in museums, a music theme, or a particular experience.

Museums, Architecture, and Local History

The Louisiana State Exhibit Museum building was completed in 1939 as part of a New Deal public works project. In the Native American Gallery, the museum displays a Caddo dugout canoe excavated from the Red River. The exhibition may change in the future.

The Spring Street Historical Museum presents Shreveport’s history through photographs and discovered artifacts. Its building was constructed around 1866; admission is free. Since admission policies can change, check the latest visitor information before your visit if this is important to your plans.

The McNeill Street Pumping Station is a waterworks facility built in 1887 and listed as a National Historic Landmark. Visitors can tour the Shreveport Water Works Museum with a guide or on a self-guided tour. Since tour arrangements can change, check the current options in advance if you want to make the visit part of your plans.

The R.W. Norton Art Gallery’s art collection spans more than four millennia. Its gardens include more than 15,000 plants, including about 100 native and hybrid azalea varieties. Plant counts may change as the collection changes.

A whole district is also part of the city’s historic landscape: The area covers 64 city blocks, is now Shreveport’s central business district, and is listed as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

Music History and Events

The Louisiana Hayride began on April 3, 1948, as a weekly stage show at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. The Shreveport Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1948 and has since been Louisiana’s oldest continuously operating professional orchestra. It presents symphonic performances for audiences in the Ark-La-Tex region. If you’d like to attend a performance, check current event dates as you plan your trip.

Red River Revel was founded in 1976. At the festival, food vendors serve funnel cakes, seafood macaroni, Natchitoches meat pies, and chicken & waffles. If you’re planning your trip around the festival, check the event dates in advance.

Puzzles, Stars, and the Red River

The Gallery of Intrigue at Sci-Port Discovery Center is an outdoor escape room. It features relics and replicas from Shreveport’s history dating back to 1835. The Sawyer Space Dome Planetarium offers a different focus: there, you can travel through the stars, explore distant planets, and discover the secrets of the universe. This puts an experience connected to local history alongside an attraction centered on space.

The Shreveport Aquarium is right on the Red River.

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