Today, Shreveport boasts the largest collection of important twentieth-century buildings in the state of Louisiana, and is surpassed only by New Orleans in the number of locations listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Well-known Shreveport historian Eric J. Brock details the history of the city's commerce, civic development, neighborhoods, architecture, cemeteries, peculiar events, culture, religion, and education. Based on his columns for the long-running series, "The Presence of the Past," which appeared weekly in the Shreveport JournalPage, it is the result of many years of documentation and research. One can witness the breakup of the Great Raft, relive the yellow fever epidemic of 1873, sing along at the Louisiana Hayride, and retrace the steps of Martin Luther King, Jr. Written in response to an overwhelming number of requests and suggestions for a book of its kind, Eric Brock's Shreveport should fill the void for academic books depicting the area.

What makes Shreveport's Oakland Cemetery so spooky might be the mass burial of 715 victims of the 1873 yellow fever epidemic. Another bone-chilling locale is the city's historic Municipal Auditorium, which according to local legends may have briefly served as a morgue under the watch of Dr. Willis P. Butler, perhaps the longest-serving Caddo Parish medical examiner and coroner. Years after his passing, Butler is still seen dutifully working in the courthouse and other public spaces. And over at the beautifully restored Logan Mansion, unexplained mischievous pranks are blamed on the spirits of a young girl whose life was tragically cut short. Historians Gary D. Joiner, PhD, and Cheryl H. White, PhD, recount the true stories of these and other notable landmarks framed within the intriguing twist of the paranormal.

The history of Shreveport's Cemetery and those that are known to be buried there.

Nearly as old as the city itself, Oakland Cemetery is one of Shreveport's most significant historical landmarks. Notable residents were laid to rest here as early as 1842. In a mass grave lie nearly eight hundred victims of a virulent yellow fever epidemic that struck the city in 1873. Others interred include Annie McCune, the famous Shreveport madam who operated a brothel in the city's red-light district, as well as hundreds of Civil War soldiers, city founders and the first African American physician, Dr. Dickerson Alphonse Smith. Some souls are said to haunt the grounds still. Join authors Gary D. Joiner and Cheryl White and discover some of Shreveport's oldest stories.