SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) - A quick Google search of the term "Shreveport historic hotels" will lead you to lodging at Shreveport casinos, chain hotels, and a small handful of bed and breakfasts in the Shreveport area. But Shreveport was once a hopping place for locally owned lodging. By the late 1800s, tourists were coming to the city to sleep, shop, wine, dine, have their hair done, buy supplies, and be entertained. The city looked a bit different then, too, and not just because of the dirt roads that checkerboard their way through downtown. You could reach the city by rail, boat, or hoof. And storefronts in Shreveport actually faced the Red River in the 19th century. Storefronts on historic Commerce Street in Shreveport once faced the Red River. This photo, taken in 1873, shows the Red River flowing through the city instead of behind it. (Source: LSUS Archives) Boats tied up near downtown Shreveport to visit Conway & Buckelew's Hardware store in 1873. (Source: LSUS Archives) It's tough to find a historic building that has been turned into a bed and breakfast or hotel in Shreveport today, and even tougher to find a storefront on the Shreveport side of the Red River that faces the water. But during the 19th century, Shreveport was river-focused and had many locally-owned hotels, hotel restaurants, and hotel bars that catered to travelers. Businesses in 1800s Shreveport even described their locations in relation to popular Shreveport hotels. One example of such a business is an institute for people who wished to stop stammering (stuttering) that was located in the bottom floor of Planter's Hotel. Local newspapers even published the names of people who were staying in Shreveport hotels. Top: City Hotel ad, The South-Western, Mar. 27, 1867; Hotel arrivals, Daily South-Western, Mar. 5, 1869; Southern Hotel ad, The (Shreveport) Times, Dec. 31, 1871. Bottom: Ad for the Southwestern Stammering Institute, located on the bottom floor of the Planter's Hotel in Shreveport, The (Shreveport) Times, Nov. 9, 1872 In 19th-century and early 20th-century Shreveport, you could stay in boarding houses located throughout the city. Young workers could easily afford to pay a monthly boarding house fee for a private bedroom, complete with laundry service and three meals a day. Kerry and Anne Easley own a historic building in nearby Minden (Webster Parish) that was once an old boarding house. The Easleys currently use the space as a studio and event center. But after researching the history of how the building was used, the couple says they wish boarding houses would make a comeback. Hidden history: Owners of 1920s boarding house in Minden say we’re all missing something Ad for boarding house and stables in Shreveport, The (Shreveport) Times, Sat. Jan. 27, 1877 Modern-day Shreveport no longer has old-fashioned boarding houses. And many of the city's political leaders in the mid-1900s literally missed the bus during the region's civil rights movement. Shreveport's history shows that locally-owned lodging wasn't accessible to everyone who needed a place to say. Sam Cook even wrote A Change is Gonna Come because of an incident at a segregated hotel in Shreveport. But locally owned lodging (minus the negatives from Shreveport's controversial past) is making a comeback in the United States and Shreveport, thanks in large part to online businesses such as Airbnb. From a $55-a-night charming guestroom to a $100-a-night fully furnished apartment, there are dozens of Shreveport lodging options available on Airbnb's website. This screenshot from airbnb.com shows a few of the options for locally-owned lodging in modern-day Shreveport. Some of the available spaces are located in historic homes and buildings. However, though it is true that Airbnb has helped locals rent out spaces to visitors, there's room in the market for bed and breakfasts, boutiques, and history-themed hotels, too. By looking at old hotel ads from 1800s Shreveport, residents and investors have a chance to learn about Shreveport's 19th-century hospitality industry and toward historic preservation while acknowledging lessons learned from our controversial history. Ad for Cumpston Hotel, Jan. 27, 1877, The (Shreveport) Times Shreveport Daily Standard, Aug. 21, 1880. Bottom: The (Shreveport) Times, Feb. 17, 1885 Ad for barber shop under the New Hotel, The (Shreveport) Times, Apr. 28, 1877; Ad for Tilly's Hotel, Feb. 17, 1885, The (Shreveport) Times Understanding that locally-owned, small hotels were popular once popular in Northwest Louisiana (and are popular today in some parts of East Texas) could inspire you to begin believing that businesses like these could one day return to the region. The Historic Jefferson Hotel and The Excelsior House Hotel in Jefferson, Texas are good places to visit if you've ever dreamt of restoring and reopening such a venue. Bed and Breakfasts abound in Jefferson. From Benefield House B&B, Carriage House B&B, Kennedy Manor B&B, White Oak Manor B&B, to Claiborne House B&B, the little city of Jefferson is one of the most historic-preservation minded places in the ArkLaTex. Top: The (Shreveport) Times, Sept. 2, 1886; The (Shreveport) Times, Feb. 17, 1885; The (Shreveport) Times, Feb. 1, 1890.Bottom: The (Shreveport) Times, Jan. 22, 1889 Top, right to left: The Shreveport Journal, Jul. 5, 1895; The (Shreveport) Times, Feb. 1, 1890; The Shreveport Journal, Nov. 2, 1897. Bottom: Serwich Hotel ad from The (Shreveport) Times, Aug. 22, 1900 This hotel directory was printed in The (Shreveport) Times, Nov. 24, 1900. Are you interested in learning about the history of hotels in small, Northwest Louisiana towns? If so, check out a hotel directory that was printed by The (Shreveport) Times in 1900. The directory gives us glimpses of places like Hotel Long in Provencal, Jackson Hotel in Grand Cane, The Rapides in Alexandria, City Hotel in Boyce, Keegan House in Robeline, De Soto Hotel in Mansfield, Pleasant Hill's Atkins House, and Barnett House in Plain Dealing. And don't forget about The Catfish Hotel, the first hotel in Shreveport. It opened in 1837 and a drawing of the establishment was featured in The Shreveport Journal on June 27, 1835. The featured image "is from an old print." History lesson for entrepreneurs Could Shreveporters become more preservation-minded and bring back old-fashioned, locally-owned lodging? Dr. Gary Joiner, LSU Shreveport Professor of History, says yes. But he also admits that Shreveport has changed a lot since the 19th century. "Even though we're the same town, we were a different place," Joiner says of historic Shreveport compared to the modern-day city. "We had people coming in by rail, by steamboat, and we had a lot of entertainment--some was even legal." Joiner said that Shreveport was called the Queen City of the Southwest for a while. But he also said there were factors that changed how people in Shreveport thought of themselves and how others thought of Shreveport. The steamer C. E. Satterlee at the boat docks in Shreveport, 1890. (Source: LSUS Archives) "All the way through the 1940s we had national performers coming here," said Joiner. "We had great venue for acts. And then something happened. We sort of turned our backs on the outside. We started tearing down historic structures, so our fabulous mansions are limited to Fairfield and South Highlands, Thornhill, and Line." Joiner said by the middle of the 20th century, Shreveport's hotels couldn't survive the loss of the oil industry downtown. "So you have a desert of potential places that could have been bed and breakfasts," said Joiner. "And they still could be."