Bossier City

Bossier City is the largest city in Bossier Parish in northwestern Louisiana. Though the 2010 census count was 61,315, the 2013 population had grown to 66,333. Bossier City is located on the eastern bank of the Red River across from the larger city of Shreveport. The Shreveport-Bossier region is known as the "Ark-La-Tex".

Bossier City is home of Barksdale Air Force Base and Bossier Parish Community College, which observed its fiftieth anniversary in 2017. it is also a mecca for legal gambling, with river boats and hotels vested in casinos. The current mayor is a Republican, Lorenz James "Lo" Walker, a Shreveport native and retired United States Air Force colonel. The city council consists of five Republicans and one Democrat and one Independent. Bossier Parish is among the Republican strongholds in Louisiana, but neighboring Caddo Parish is usually Democratic in contested elections.

In the 1830s, the land that became Bossier City was the site of a plantation, Elysian Grove, purchased by James Cane. After years of slow settlement while known as Cane City, Bossier City was incorporated as a village in 1906, when Ewald Max Hoyer of Shreveport was appointed the first mayor. Much later Governor Earl Long declared Bossier City a city.

Notable people

• Marvin Anding, mayor of Bossier City, 1977-1983
• Frank Blackburn, Anding's successor as interim mayor, 1983-1984
• Henry Burns, District 9 state representative from 2008 to 2016
• Jake W. Cameron, mayor from 1957 to 1961
• Glenn E. Clark, businessman and local politician
• Raymond Crews, current District 8 state representative
• Hoffman Lee Fuller, mayor from 1937 to 1953
• Ryan Gatti, current District 36 state senator
• Ray Germany, basketball player and coach
• B. H. Gilley, historian; former professor at Louisiana Tech University
• Andy Clay Harris, former pastor of The Church of the Cross Assemblies of God congregation
• James Henderson, president of the University of Louisiana System; former chancellor of Bossier Parish Community College
• Ewald Max Hoyer, founding mayor of Bossier City as a village, 1907-1910
• Mike Johnson, current 4th district U.S. Representative and resident of Benton
• Fred Lowery, Baptist clergyman
• Burgess McCranie, mayor from 1953 to 1957
• Barrow Peacock, state senator for part of Bossier Parish; a Shreveport businessman
• John M. Robinson, retired judge
• Buddy Roemer, governor of Louisiana from 1988 to 1992
• Charles E. Roemer, II, businessman, farmer, politician
• Parker Self, chief judge of the Louisiana 26th Judicial District Court
• Jeff R. Thompson, judge and former state representative
• David Wade, former commander of Barksdale Air Force Base
• Julian Whittington, sheriff of Bossier Parish
• Monty Wyche, district judge from 1969 to 1988