SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Shreveport’s Allendale neighborhood holds an essential place in the city’s history, particularly Black history. But few people today realize that Allendale was named after a prominent figure in the Confederacy. Here's a brief history of the Allendale neighborhood. Allendale’s formation As the original town of Shreveport grew from its high plateau along the Red River, its growth naturally spread to the west. Portions of the Confederate defenses were located across a low valley immediately west of the town along a parallel highland plateau. Farms and homesteads existed there as early as 1863. Ledbetter Heights, originally called St. Paul’s Bottoms, occupied the low area in the western shadow of downtown. The adjoining plateau to the west, Allendale, became prime real estate for developers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. St. Paul’s Bottoms was part of Shreveport's original organization in 1839. Under Act 25 of 1878, Shreveport annexed Allendale, east of Elder Street, along with the valley South of the downtown plateau and the high ground south of Stoner Avenue. This Act allowed Allendale to enter Shreveport and created the City of Shreveport from the Town of Shreveport. Senator Ceasar Carpentier Antoine sponsored the bill. Act 25 became law on April 4, 1878. Allendale, west of Elder Street, was annexed under Ordinance 158 of 1898.3 This included the burgeoning Kansas City Southern Rail Yards and Highland between Stoner Avenue and Olive Street.  Lost graves in abandoned Shreveport cemetery tell story of South Highlands Eric J. Brock, the late historian and chronicler of Shreveport, best described the beginnings of St. Paul’s Bottoms and Allendale in his book, Eric Brock’s Shreveport.  “Shreveport’s Allendale and Ledbetter height areas are among the oldest sections of the city,” wrote Brock. “Indeed, they are the first neighborhoods to have been developed outside the original city boundaries, today’s downtown business district. Originally Ledbetter height was known as the Bottoms. However, this name was formally changed to Ledbetter Heights in 1980. However, many residents of the neighborhood continued to refer to it as the Bottoms.” The streets of Ledbetter Heights Brock wrote that a lot of the streets in the section were named after early settlers, unlike the streets in downtown Shreveport, which were named after the heroes of the Texas War of Independence. Christian Street was named after landowner Charles M. Christian. The 600 and 700 blocks later became known as Austin Place. Oakland Cemetery was called “The City Cemetery” until 1905 when it became known as Oakland Cemetery. Austin Place was named after an early settler named Lemuel Austin, who developed Butler Street in honor of his father-in-law. Oakland Street was called Hicks Street until the early 1900s. It had been named after Judge A. W. O. Hicks. Doll Street was named after a baker named Howard Frederick Doll. We assume he was a really good baker. Schumpert Street was named after Thomas Edgar Shumpert, a surgeon who founded a hospital in Shreveport in 1894. Jewel Street is named after an early settler, as is Lawrence Street. Western Avenue is named so because it was once the western boundary of Shreveport. It was later named after Pete Harris of the Freeman and Harris Café. Reverend Jesse Franklin Ford is the reason we have Ford Street, and William Elijah Hamilton is the reason we have Little Hamilton Street and Hamilton Terrace in the Highland neighborhood. Hamilton Road in Bossier City is also named after the same family. Snow Street is named after a judge in Ouachita Parish who was married to the daughter of a former Caddo Parish Sheriff. Hope Street is named after that Sheriff, John H. Hope. Logan Street is named after Lafayette Robert Logan, and the Logan Mansion is still at Austin Place. Logan had a brewery and an icehouse. It’s little wonder why he was adored in Shreveport. J. F. Looney sold buggies and carriages, and he helped develop the Looney Street area. Cotton factory owner Thomas Poland is why we have Poland Street. Williamson Street exists because of the co-founder of Shreveport, Thomas Taylor Williamson. His son George was the State Minister to Guatemala and Honduras under two different U.S. Presidents. Allen Avenue is named after Louisiana Governor Henry Watkins Allen, who lived on Myrtle Street in Allendale. Images of Shreveport's Allendale neighborhood. (Source: KTAL/KMSS' Marlo Lacen) Ledbetter Heights and St. Paul’s Bottoms  Ledbetter Heights began as a residential area for workers, particularly riverfront, railroad, and others who could not afford to live downtown. From at least the Civil War, it was known as Mugginsville, which was named after an Irish bar owner whose saloon was in the low area. It later became known as St. Paul’s Bottoms, named after the nearby St. Paul’s Methodist Church. In 1980, the city relabeled it as Ledbetter Heights, named for Huddie Ledbetter, the famous blues singer who often played there. As the lowest elevation in the city, the name “Bottoms” had nothing to do with self-esteem, but Shreveport seems to have forgotten its past. The Bottoms, as most Shreveporters called it, was a complex place of saloons, brothels, gambling halls, residences ranging from shotgun houses to bungalows, and more refined larger structures. From 1903 to 1917, the Bottoms contained an extensive legal Red Light District, catering to White and Black clients, though not in the same buildings. Prostitution existed there since at least the Civil War. Shreveport’s attempt at controlled vice resulted in the district’s creation. It never left. The Bottoms was the home of several successful black-owned businesses, such as the A&P Grocery, Freeman and Harris Café, and later the Pete Harris Café (in the old A&P Grocery building), the Star Theater, the Club Fifty-One, the Black Hawk Club, and the Cotton Club. The City Cemetery, later renamed Oakland Cemetery, also lies in the heart of the neighborhood. Unsolved crime: Shreveport’s St. Rest Baptist Church bombed during Civil Rights Movement Churches significant to Shreveport’s history and the Civil Rights Movement include Old Galilee Baptist Church, Old Union Baptist Church, and Antioch Baptist Church. The 1100 Block of Sprague Street offered the Castle and Sprague Street hotels. City Hall (now the home of the Shreveport Police Department) and the Municipal Auditorium are prominent buildings. The most prominent building on Texas Avenue is the Calanthean Temple, built in 1923 by the Court of Calanthe, the women’s organization affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. Led by Cora Murdoch Allen, the Temple held the offices of many Black professionals. The roof garden was a popular entertainment venue for many great Jazz Age performers. All streets in St. Paul’s Bottoms, except parts of Texas Avenue, tilt 41 degrees from true north to conform to the street directions of downtown. This layout confirms that the neighborhood is older than its neighbors to the west and South.  Most residential buildings in The Bottoms were shotgun houses, double shotgun houses, or bungalows. Almost all were made of wood, with some bungalow outer walls covered with asbestos shakes. Virtually all of these structures no longer exist.  Allendale  The much larger Allendale neighborhood adjoins St. Paul’s Bottoms to the west. It extends roughly from Cross Bayou on the north to I-20, the Kansas City Southern railroad tracks on the South, and Hearne Avenue on the west. Lakeside adjoins Allendale on the west. Allendale formed the bulk of the annexation to Shreveport in 1878, and the remainder was annexed in 1898. This hilly, well-drained plateau was named Allendale for the plantation owned and residence of Henry Watkins Allen, the Confederate governor of Louisiana when Shreveport was its capital. Allendale was named after the Governor of Louisiana, who lived on a plantation in Shreveport’s “Allendale” when the city was not only the capital of Louisiana but also the capital of the Confederacy. The former name of the area, “the Bottoms,” wasn’t derogatory at all. According to Brock, it was “a statement of topographic fact, low lying, and flood-prone. The area’s topography was referred to as the bottom land.” In case you’re wondering, former Louisiana Governor Allen is buried at the old state capital, the State House, in Baton Rouge. Shreveport residents today have many names for the section of town we call “Allendale.” Some call it Ledbetter Heights (named after the famous musician.) Others call it “the Bottoms.” And occasionally, though rare, it’s called Mugginsville because of a mostly forgotten Irish saloon. Which name do you prefer?