Downtown Riverfront in Shreveport in Caddo Parish, Louisiana — The American South (West South Central)

Cane-Bennett Building

Historic Site

— Shreveport —

Cane-Bennett Building Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 29, 2025

1. Cane-Bennett Building Marker

Inscription.
Believed built 1838; rebuilt within original walls following fire in 1868. Constructed for James H. Cane and William Smith Bennett, pioneer settlers in Shreveport. Annex at left built 1852 by Mary Cane, who was, successively, the widow of both men.

Erected by Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Settlements & Settlers • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1838.

Location. 32° 30.86′ N, 93° 44.671′ W. Marker is in Shreveport, Louisiana, in Caddo Parish. It is in Downtown Riverfront. It is on Commerce Street just north of Crockett Street, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 618 Commerce Street, Shreveport LA 71101, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Louisiana.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and in the Piney Woods.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

the Louisiana Purchase,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Guardian (here, next to this marker); 525 Spring Street (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Henry Watkins Allen / Battery 10 (about 500 feet away); Harrison Building (about 500 feet away); Green's Alley (about 700 feet away); Shreve Square (about 700 feet away); Cane & Bennett's Trading Post (about 700 feet away); 3rd Caddo Courthouse (about 800 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Shreveport.

Related markers.

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Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.

Also see . . . The Remarkable Life of Mary Bennett Cane (Downtown Shreveport).

Excerpt: Had she been a man, the city MIGHT have been named after Mary Doal Cilley Bennett Cane, nicknamed “Bammie.” Bammie was born in 1812, in New Hampshire. In 1836, the 24-year-old, over the objections of her father, married her uncle — William Bennett, Sr. Bennett was one of the Shreveport’s founders, so he and his new bride loaded up and moved to the wild and rugged Louisiana hinterlands to the newly-named Shreveport. Once here, Bammie gave birth to the first white child born here, a strapping son named William Bennett, Jr. Sadly both Williams died in one of the frequent outbreaks of Yellow Fever, leaving Bammie a widow and alone. William. Sr. had bequeathed to her all the properties that he had, 1/7th of the area of the original Shreve Town.
After William died, she stayed single for 8 years, finally marrying James Huntington Cane, her husband’s former business partner. Ironically, Cane was the man her father had always wanted her to marry. Disaster struck again, and Cane died leaving her with two more children, James Jr. and Mary Jane Cane. Single again for 5 years, she married GB Alexander, a riverboat gambler, possibly introduced by
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 29, 2025

2. Cane-Bennett Building Marker
Looking southwest from Commerce Street. This is the upper one of two historical markers on the post.
her father Samuel who was a gambler and all around n’er do well. She divorced the ‘adulterous drunkard’ GB 8 years later.
Bammie did more than marry and bury husbands. She is said to have opened the first store in Shreveport and for some years was one of the owners of a business that offered wholesale and retail groceries, hay, corn and oats, and bought and sold cotton. She also operated a ferry service across the Red River from Shreveport to Bossier City. Though she was very wealthy, her life was not carefree and ultimately it was her family that ended up leaving her penniless.

(Submitted on October 30, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Cane-Bennett Building image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 29, 2025

3. Cane-Bennett Building

Looking west from Commerce Street. The historical marker is edge-on, in front of the utility pole, and nearly invisible from this perspective.

Credits. This page was last revised on October 30, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 30, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 76 times since then and 42 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 30, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.