However, the city continues in its efforts to revitalize its infrastructure, revive the economy through diversification, and lower crime. After the loss of jobs in the oil industry, the closure of General Motors' Shreveport Operations, and other economic problems, it struggled with a declining population, poverty, drugs, and violent crime. Standard Oil of Louisiana and United Gas Corporation were headquartered in the city until the 1960s and 1980s, respectively.
It grew throughout the 20th century and, after the discovery of oil in Louisiana, became a national center for the oil industry. 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. The 2020 census tabulation for the city's population was 187,593, while the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area had a population of 393,406. It extends along the west bank of the Red River into neighboring Bossier Parish.
The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, of which it is the parish seat. It is the third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Shreveport ( / ˈ ʃ r iː v p ɔːr t/ SHREEV-port) is a city in the U.S.
