Bossier High School (Louisiana)


Bossier High School is a co-educational college preparatory high school in Bossier City, Louisiana.
Its former building on Colquitt Street, a Classical Revival-style building constructed in 1923, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 as Bossier High School. Its current location on Bearkat Drive, with its International Style architecture, also was listed on the National Register, in 2004.

History

Bossier High School was officially recognized as an accredited educational institution by the Louisiana Department of Education in 1917. The first school was located on Traffic Street in North Bossier, the present site of Bossier Elementary School. In 1923 a new high school was built to serve the city's rapidly expanding population, and this was expanded in 1928, but still was inadequate. In 1938 a new location was chosen on the historic site of Fort Kirby Smith, a Civil War Fort. Fort Kirby Smith was one of several defensive positions pieced together by the Confederate Army during the American Civil War to protect Shreveport during the Red River Campaign. According to Gary Joiner's Through the Howling Wilderness: The 1864 Red River Campaign and Union Failure in the West, it was located to prevent an attack from the north, the east, as well as the southeast from Union aggression. After the surrender of Shreveport in 1865, Fort Kirby Smith was dismantled and abandoned.
The present Bossier High School, a three-story building located at 777 Bearcat Drive, was built in 1938-39. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. It was designed by architect Samuel Wiener in International Style. Due to rapid population growth, the city's Bossier High School built in 1923 and 1928 became over-crowded, and this school was built to replace it. The former school was then devoted to serving elementary school levels. It was built by contractor James T. Taylor of Fort Worth, Texas. The listing included three contributing buildings.
Construction of Bossier High was completed in 1940 and is the present site.

Athletics

Bossier High School's biggest rivals include Airline High School and Parkway High School.

Louisiana High School Athletic Association State Championships