Photos from LSU Shreveport Athletics's post ... See MoreSee Less

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Celebrating our nation's 250th birthday this year is an awesome experience and in 9 years this city will celebrate another milestone! In 2036, the citizens of this area will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Caddo Indian Treaty! That's right, in 1835 the Caddo Indians ceded their lands to the U.S. for $80,000 in cash, goods and horses. They did, however, reserve 640 acres (now a part of the Shreveport site) for Larkin Edwards, their friend and interpreter. You can read the rest of the story in the attached articles.

Last year, while looking through the Thurman C. Smith collection, we found a photo from 1935 showing the ancestors of the original Caddo tribe who traveled from Oklahoma to participate in the re-enactment. They are shown posing in front of the old Rex Hotel on Crockett Street. Otis Johnson of Film Arbor Studios took the photo, which Thurman later acquired. So thankful that this important piece of our history was preserved!

During the 100th Celebration, Otis Johnson also captured tons of photos of the beautiful floats that paraded downtown. It just so happens that we also uncovered those original 8x10 negatives and have saved them both physically and digitally! We plan to release all of those photos to the public during the 2026 Bicentennial Celebration! Well, we did decide to add one of those float pictures to this post. This float carried the Caddo Indians themselves!!!

We colorized and enhanced that photo using A.I. technology. ... See MoreSee Less

Listening to some great music by our friend Shane Pons! ... See MoreSee Less

The Famous Mirror Steakhouse Mirror!!!

Several years ago we posted about this fancy little restaurant that was once located on Louisiana Ave down the hill from the old Union Station. Back then we had several good photos of this restaurant from that time, but we recently found more while looking through the Thurman C. Smith Collection! We even have a photo (colorized by us) of the beautiful mirror that hung on the wall!

The beautiful plate glass mirror, which was part of the decorations at the Famous Mirror Steakhouse, illustrated the mythical Apollo preparing to hitch one of his horses to the “Sun-Chariot” and begin his daily ride across the heavens.

The Mirror Steakhouse sat at 981 Louisiana Ave right down from Union Station. Johnny Wessler (a guy who knows a lot about this area's history) commented, "The Mirror Steakhouse on Louisiana Ave. moved to the Mirror Steakhouse on Highland. It was sold, along with the building, to Don's Seafood and Steakhouse." As for the original Mirror Steakhouse building, it was bulldozed to make room for Interstate 20. Another good question popped up from Diane George: “What ever happened to the mirror itself?” Well, according to local architectural genius Richard J. Cawthon, Architectural Historian "I was told that it was purchased after Don's closed, but it shattered while being moved." Well, we really hope that isn't true!!! Since then we have heard stories of it hanging at a restaurant in Texas but then disappeared from there as well. If someone knows please contact us and also SEND PICTURES!!!!

Click on the link below to read The Shreveport Times article by Art Carmody, Jr. on the Mirror Steakhouse's history! Photos Courtesy Northwest Louisiana Archives at LSUS and Thurman C. Smith Collection.
Shreveport Times story here
www.shreveporttimes.com/.../letter.../3087799001/ ... See MoreSee Less