Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
Location submitted by: whougonnacall on 10/12/2012
DBA Approved: Y
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PANICd#: 1249
An old auditorium where Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Hank Williams have played.
705 Elvis Presley Avenue
Shreveport , LA 71101
Phone: (318) 518-5027
Open to the public: Yes
http://www.shreveportmunicipalaudit...
Lat: 32.50782360000001
Lon: -93.7534713
Database Summary:
Demographic Rank: 6
History: 1
Stories: 1
Claims: 5
Evidence: 0
Resources: 0
Retrievals: 2144
Vistor Rating: 0.0
Votes: 0
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History
History information is some background and history about the location. This is meant to be a basic summary. Below the history records you will find sources in which you can click on to find out more information. There may be multiple history records per location.
Located just west of Downtown Shreveport, lies one of Shreveport's most treasured buildings. Built in the 1920s, it is noted for its intricate brickwork and lavish interior and has been coined the finest example of Art Deco construction in the State of Louisiana. Designed by noted architect, Samuel Weiner, the building was dedicated to the Soldiers of the Great War on Veterans' Day, then known as Armistice Day, November 11, 1929. In its early years, the auditorium played host to the military by serving as barracks for the troops and housing the early aircraft warning system more commonly known as Radar.
On April 3, 1948, a new program named, The Louisiana Hayride, began a weekly showcase of talented singers, songwriters and performers. Little did anyone realize the impact that would be made from the stage of Shreveport's Municipal Auditorium. The Louisiana Hayride became known as The Cradle of the Stars, because so many international stars began their careers on this program. Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, are just a few of the acts that went on to stardom after performing on The Louisiana Hayride. Perhaps the most prominent performer to begin his career on the stage made his performance debut October 16th, 1954. That is when the world was introduced to Elvis Presley!
Elvis was signed to a contract to perform every Saturday night on the Hayride for $18 a show. Colonel Tom Parker "discovered" this phenomenal talent and bought his contract for $10,000 dollars after 18 months, but without a doubt, it is on the stage of Shreveport's Municipal Auditorium that Elvis developed the techniques that launched his career into stardom. The audiences averaged around 2,000 per show and for a while, The Hayride was nationally broadcast on CBS radio and became a staple of Armed Forces Radio programming. Although the weekly programming ended in 1960, the Hayride was regularly scheduled through the 60s.
Many African American musicians played at the Municipal Auditorium as well. Blues musician Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, originally from Shreveport-Bossier, became well-known for his song "Good Night Irene". Other influential African American musicians who have played at the Municipal Auditorium include James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Bobbie "Blue" Bland and B.B. King.
Music still rings from the stage of the historic Municipal Auditorium. The former home of the Louisiana Hayride, today, is host to a variety of events that interest the entire community, which include, sporting events, touring acts, live local concerts, graduations, family shows, parties, and debutante balls. Shreveport Municipal Auditorium was recently named a National Historic Landmark.
Added by: lmizenko on 01/27/2015
DB#:195
Source(s):
http://www.shreveportmunicipalauditorium.com/histo...
Stories
Stories are just that. Stories and personal accounts that have been reported about the location.
Once you enter the lobby of the auditorium you begin to feel the energy-the excitement of patrons of the past who filed through the doors to hear a concert, a lecture, or one of many sporting events. Teresa motioned to a balcony door off to the right. That was where she witnessed a door opening on its own during one of the tours offered at the location. There was definitely going to be a visit to the overlook later in the evening.
Walking into the huge auditorium one gets a feeling of being watched. It is a feeling tour guests and employees often share. They say if you look up into one section of the seats you might see someone looking down at you. Turn around in another direction and that same "spirit" is now sitting in that section of seats. Eerie, yes? Strange, no. One workman was setting up seats for a boxing match to be held that evening. Nobody but the work crew was allowed in the building, but every time he would glance up into the seats he saw a young man staring back down at him. This strange apparition seemed to move from section to section in the matter of a few seconds. The workman kept a watchful eye on the young man just in case there might be trouble. He finally had to step outside and grab a tool from his work van. On the way back into the auditorium, he spied the lad outside the doors. "Is there something I can help you with?" The workman was puzzled. "I just come by to see what time the fights start." The young man smiled and slowly faded away. It was later learned that a young boxer had died in a car accident years before when he was on his way to the auditorium for his first match. He still returns to compete in that unfinished bout.
Suddenly, Nancy saw something out of the corner of her eye. She thought she saw "someone" peer into a window in one of the doors that lead into the floor seating area. Teresa explained that the shadows and faces in the windows happen all the time-another phenomenon reported even though the building is locked up tight. One paranormal team set up their equipment in that hallway only to come back later in the evening to find their cameras knocked over and scattered in every direction.
A side staircase takes you up to an area where Teresa kept her office for quite some time. She said it was not unusual to walk out into the hallway and see and hear every door on the floor open and close up and down the corridor. One of the elderly tour guides who claimed she was a skeptic changed her mind one afternoon while giving a tour. She was coming up the side staircase and didn't feel the need of holding on to the banister. An unseen spirit carefully placed a hand on the senior guide's shoulder as a reminder to be careful. The guide ignored the warnings and continued to climb the stairs without the safety of the rail. Suddenly, "something" gently picked her up and sat her down at the top of the remaining steps. From that day on she became a believer and always used the hand rail.
We covered every floor of the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium from the rooftop ballroom to the basement dressing rooms, movie set, and the storage areas below the stage-which brings to mind another eerie tale of the building. There has been the sound of a woman weeping in one of the lower level restrooms. Many guides have dashed to the restroom to see if someone had been injured, only to find the power room empty. One evening a guest on the tour, who played with various bands in the early days of the Louisiana Hayride, recalled a show where a woman had gone into labor and crept down to the restroom and began to give birth to her baby. Whether the woman and the baby survived he did not know, but the imprint of that traumatic situation is still repeated over and over again.
Standing on the stage where so many great performers have entertained was awe-inspiring. You could feel the energy of ghosts of the past on the stage and almost hear the cheers of the audience before you. Off to the left is the small side entrance where Elvis, in his early years, would stand and watch his idols on stage. Sometimes if you look there now you will catch a glimpse of the King. Other guides, tour guests, and visitors often see a beautiful blond woman back stage. She has even been seen standing among the tour guests on the stage. Nobody knows who this beautiful lady might be. She has even interacted with the men of the stage and lighting crew-and like the others, simply disappears to that big concert hall in the sky!
Added by: lmizenko on 01/27/2015
DB#:1149
Source(s):
http://www.examiner.com/article/ghost-hunters-will...
Paranormal Claims
Here are the paranormal claims for this location. These have been found through Internet research, reports from members, or reports from personal interviews. To add a claim, please contact PANICd.com, and we will review and add your information.
| Claim # | Added | Added By | Claim |
| 1868 | 01/27/2015 | lmizenko | Moaning from the Ladies rest room. |
| 1869 | 01/27/2015 | lmizenko | Strange feelings in the basement. (which at one time was the city morgue) |
| 1870 | 01/27/2015 | lmizenko | While on stage hearing applause, with an empty auditorium. |
| 1871 | 01/27/2015 | lmizenko | Sounds of doors opening, and closing. |
| 1872 | 01/27/2015 | lmizenko | Shadows and faces in the windows. |
Paranormal Evidence
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