Shreveport is the seat of Caddo Parish in northwest Louisiana, built along the west bank of the Red River directly across from Bossier City. The two cities function as a single urban core — the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area — with a combined population approaching 400,000, while Shreveport itself is home to roughly 177,000 residents. The city sits at the crossroads of Interstate 20, which runs east–west between Dallas and the Deep South, and Interstate 49, which links Shreveport to southern Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. The city's founding is tied directly to the river. In the 1830s, Captain Henry Miller Shreve cleared the Great Raft, a massive logjam that had blocked navigation on the Red River for decades. The Shreve Town Company platted the settlement in 1836 at the meeting point of the newly navigable Red River and the Texas Trail, the overland route into Texas that gave the young town its first commercial purpose. Shreveport incorporated as a town in 1839 and grew through the 19th century as a river port and cotton-shipping center, later adding railroad connections that cemented its role as the commercial hub of the Ark-La-Tex region where Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas meet. Today the economy rests on several long-standing pillars. Health care is the largest sector, anchored by Willis-Knighton Health System and Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport, the latter combining a teaching hospital with the LSU Health Shreveport medical school. The riverfront casino and hospitality industry — including Bally's Shreveport and Sam's Town — is a significant regional draw, and manufacturing, logistics, and the Port of Shreveport-Bossier on the Red River Waterway add industrial depth. Across the river, Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City is one of the region's largest employers and a defining presence for many households. Culturally, Shreveport blends Deep South and western influences. Centenary College of Louisiana and Louisiana State University Shreveport anchor the city's higher-education presence, and institutions such as the R.W. Norton Art Gallery, the Shreveport Symphony, and the Sci-Port Discovery Center give the city a cultural calendar that extends well beyond its size. Cross Lake, an 8,575-acre reservoir on the city's western edge, supplies drinking water and serves as a recreational centerpiece, while the Red River itself offers riverfront trails, kayaking, and seasonal festivals. For homebuyers, Shreveport presents a blend of historic urban neighborhoods, mid-century residential districts, and lakefront living.