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51-556: Biloxi ( / b ɪ ˈ l ʌ k s i / bih- LUK -see ; French: [bilusi] ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi , United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities are both designated as seats of Harrison County. The population of Biloxi was 49,449 at the 2020 census , making it the state's 4th most populous city . It

102-519: A hurricane swept the coast and destroyed many lighthouses, but the Biloxi Lighthouse remained undamaged. Keeper Reynolds reported that she kept the light burning through the storm and "faithfully performed the duties of Light Keeper in storm and sunshine attending it. "I ascended the Tower during and after the last destructive storm when man stood appalled at the danger I encountered." During

153-500: A local beach with seven black friends. They were ordered to leave by a city policeman, who told them that "Negroes don't come to the sand beach". In the early 1960s, the Gulf Coast again emerged as a prime alternative to Florida as a southern vacation destination among Northerners , with Biloxi a favored destination. Biloxi hotels upgraded their amenities and hired chefs from France and Switzerland in an effort to provide some of

204-713: A new inland harbor town named La Nouvelle-Orléans ( New Orleans ), built for this purpose in 1718–1720. In 1763, following Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War / French and Indian War , France had to cede their colonies east of the Mississippi River , except for New Orleans, to Great Britain , as part of the Treaty of Paris . At the same time, the French colony west of the Mississippi, plus New Orleans,

255-442: A storm in 1860, a portion of the sand under the lighthouse eroded, causing the structure to lean. Later more sand was removed from the opposite side to correct this. Local authorities ordered that the light be extinguished on June 18, 1861. The light was repaired and returned to service by November 15, 1866. At that time the tower was reported to have been painted with coal tar to protect it from rust, not, as has been reported, to mourn

306-587: Is a principal city of the Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area , home to 416,259 residents in 2020. The area's first European settlers were French colonists. The beachfront of Biloxi lies directly on the Mississippi Sound , with barrier islands scattered off the coast and into the Gulf of Mexico . Keesler Air Force Base lies within the city and is home to the 81st Training Wing and the 403rd Wing of

357-558: Is extremely rare in Biloxi. Summers are hot and humid, bearing the brunt of tropical storms during the late summer to fall. Biloxi's record low of 1 °F (−17.2 °C) was recorded on February 12, 1899, and the record high of 104 °F (40 °C) was recorded on August 29, 2000, and tied again on August 26, 2023. Biloxi is the smaller of two principal cities of the Gulfport -Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area , which

408-557: Is included in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area . As of the 2020 United States census , there were 49,449 people, 17,923 households, and 10,922 families residing in the city. Biloxi is home to eight casino resort hotels, with 24-hour gambling , concert entertainment shows, and several restaurants. Some of the current casino resorts include (dates reflect business status after Hurricane Katrina): In

459-688: Is named after U.S. President William Henry Harrison . Harrison County is part of the Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area . The county was severely damaged from both Hurricane Camille on August 17, 1969, and Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, causing catastrophic effects . According to the United States Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 976 square miles (2,530 km ), of which 402 square miles (1,040 km ) (41%) are covered by water. The Tchoutacabouffa River has its mouth at Biloxi Bay just north of

510-541: Is rapidly implementing plans to allow the redevelopment of commercial properties south of Highway 90 . Biloxi is located in southeastern Harrison County, bordered to the south by Mississippi Sound (part of the Gulf of Mexico ) and to the northeast partially by Biloxi Bay, which forms part of the Jackson County line. To the northeast, across Biloxi Bay, are the Jackson County city of Ocean Springs and

561-773: Is served by the Biloxi Public School District and the Harrison County School District . Places of worship in Biloxi include Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Biloxi, Mississippi) and the First Baptist Church of Biloxi . The Catholic Diocese of Biloxi had the first black Bishop, Bishop Howze. The diocese is considered an Irish mission and has had priests from Ireland here since

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612-509: Is served by the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Gulfport . The Coast Transit Authority provides bus service to the region with fixed-route and paratransit services. Harrison County, Mississippi Harrison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi . As of the 2020 census , the population was 208,621. Its county seats are Biloxi and Gulfport . The county

663-930: The Double-A Southern League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers play at Keesler Federal Park . The Mississippi Sea Wolves of the Federal Prospects Hockey League have played at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum since 2022. Biloxi was previously home to the original Sea Wolves team of the ECHL , and the Mississippi Surge of the Southern Professional Hockey League . Biloxi was the host city of

714-549: The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino , Casino Magic , Grand Casino , Isle of Capri Casino Resort Biloxi , Boomtown Casino , President Casino Broadwater Resort , and Imperial Palace . Like Tunica County in the northern part of the state, Biloxi and the surrounding Gulf Coast region were considered a leading gambling center in the Southern United States . To celebrate the area's tricentennial in 1998/99,

765-561: The Mississippi Gulf Coast with high winds, heavy rains and a 30-foot (9.1 m) storm surge, causing massive damage to the area. Katrina came ashore during the high tide of 6:56   am, +2.3 feet more. Commenting on the power of the storm and the damage, Mayor A. J. Holloway said, "This is our tsunami ." Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour was quoted as saying the destruction of the Mississippi coastline by Hurricane Katrina looked like an American Hiroshima . On

816-592: The U.S. Air Force Reserve. In 1699, French colonists formed the first permanent, European settlement in French Louisiana , at Fort Maurepas , now in Ocean Springs, Mississippi , and referred to as "Old Biloxi". The settlement was under the direction of Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville . La Louisiane was separated from Spanish Florida at the Perdido River near Pensacola (this was founded by

867-471: The 1950s. Biloxi has one daily newspaper, the Sun Herald , which is headquartered in nearby Gulfport . 20 FM and 7 AM radio stations operate in and/or serve the Biloxi area. According to Nielsen Media Research , the Biloxi market, as of the 2015–2016 season, is the third largest of five television markets in Mississippi, and the 158th largest in the country. Three major television stations serve

918-746: The 2009 Women's World Military Cup . Biloxi City Futbol Club is set to join the Louisiana Premier League for the fall of 2016. The Bolton State Office Building in Biloxi includes the headquarters of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and the South Regional Office of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality . The United States Postal Service operates the Biloxi Post Office and other area post offices. The city

969-484: The 53 confirmed fatalities in Biloxi, a figure that includes one unidentified male, Hargrove said the average age was 58, with the youngest being 22 and the oldest 90; 14 were female and 39 were male. Biloxi is the site of a well-known memorial to Katrina victims. The memorial was created by a team of local artists (Elizabeth Veglia and Aaron Kramer), an architect (Dennis Cowart), a contractor (Roy Anderson Corporation), and city liaison (Nathan Sullivan), with assistance from

1020-466: The Beau Rivage, which reopened on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Multiple plans have been laid out to rebuild the waterfront areas of Biloxi, and the federal government has recently announced that it is considering giving up to 17,000 Mississippi coast homeowners the option to sell their properties so that a vast hurricane-protection zone can be implemented. Meanwhile, the city of Biloxi

1071-589: The Biloxi and the Ship Island lighthouses at the start of the Spanish–American War . In 1916, the light was again damaged by a hurricane, and the wharf and boathouse were destroyed by a storm the following year. Maria Younghans retired on December 31, 1918, and was replaced by her daughter, Miranda, who remained as keeper until 1929. The Younghans family had maintained the light for a total of 63 years. W. B. Thompson then took over as keeper. In 1926,

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1122-531: The Biloxi area. ABC and CBS affiliate WLOX 13 and PBS / MPB member station WMAH-TV 19 are located in Biloxi, while Fox / MyNetworkTV affiliate WXXV-TV 25 is located in Gulfport. In addition to the stations' main programming, WLOX and WXXV-TV broadcast programming from other networks on digital subchannels. WLOX-DT2 serves as the market's CBS affiliate, while WXXV-TV operates the market's respective NBC and CW affiliates on DT2 and DT3 . Biloxi

1173-642: The Mississippi State Tax Commission, which designed and issued the plates, acknowledged the Light as "a building of historical importance" that "has long been recognized as a landmark of the Mississippi Gulf Coast ". Throughout its history, the lighthouse has survived a score of hurricanes , including the great storms of 1947 and 1969. On August 29, 2005, it stood against the wind and storm surge of Katrina . Inside

1224-512: The Spanish 1559 and again in 1698). The name of Biloxi in French was Bilocci , a transliteration of the term for the local Native American tribe in their language . Labeled along with "Fort Maurepas" on maps dated circa year 1710/1725, the name was sometimes used in English as "Fort Bilocci". In 1720, the area of today's city of Biloxi was settled for the first time around Fort Louis, and

1275-420: The administrative capital of French Louisiana was moved to Biloxi from Mobile . French Louisiana, part of New France , was known in French as La Louisiane in colonial times. In modern times it is called La Louisiane française to distinguish it from the modern state of Louisiana . Due to fears of tides and hurricanes, colonial governor Bienville moved the capital of French Louisiana in 1722 from Biloxi to

1326-430: The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln . Perry Younghans was appointed keeper on November 14, 1866, but fell ill soon thereafter. His wife, Maria Younghans, took over and tended the light. When Mr. Younghans died, Mrs. Younghans was appointed keeper December 6, 1867. In 1868 the tower was painted white and almost fell during a hurricane that year. In 1880 the old keeper's house was razed and rebuilt. The seawall

1377-466: The best seafood cuisine in the country. Edgewater Mall was built in 1963. With the introduction of legal gambling in Mississippi in the 1990s, Biloxi was again transformed. It became an important center in the resort casino industry. The new hotels and gambling complexes brought millions of dollars in tourism revenue to the city. The more famous casino complexes were the Beau Rivage casino resort,

1428-444: The branches off many coastal oak trees, but the tree trunks survived the 30-foot (9.1 m) flood and many have since regrown smaller branches. Some reconstructed homes still have their antebellum appearance, and miles inland, with less flooding, shopping centers have reopened. Harrison County Coroner Gary T. Hargrove told the mayor and City Council that Hurricane Katrina had claimed 53 victims in Biloxi, as of January 30, 2006. Of

1479-493: The center of what fisheries biologists term "The Fertile Fisheries Crescent", Biloxi offers some of the finest sportsfishing along the entire northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Spotted seatrout , red drum , Spanish and king mackerel , flounder , snapper , grouper , sharks , and more are all available to anglers during the fishing season. It is not known how Hurricane Katrina affected this ecosystem . The Biloxi Shuckers ,

1530-400: The city of Biloxi. Gulfport, Mississippi , is the chief port in the state, with access to the Gulf of Mexico through a ship channel. This is the second-largest county in Mississippi by total area. A single pond in the county contains the critically endangered dusky gopher frog . As of the 2020 United States census , 208,621 people, 74,628 households, and 50,074 families were residing in

1581-599: The city's tourism promotion agency invited the nationally syndicated Travel World Radio Show to broadcast live from Biloxi, with co-host Willem Bagchus in attendance Scores of hurricanes have hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, but the most destructive, as measured by storm surge levels in the Biloxi Lighthouse , occurred in 1855, 1906, 1909, 1947, 1969 ( Hurricane Camille ), and 2005 ( Hurricane Katrina ) On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit

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1632-513: The construction of a lighthouse at Biloxi. The United States Department of the Treasury structured a contract, dated October 15, 1847, to the Baltimore foundry of Murray and Hazlehurst to build an iron lighthouse for $ 6,347. The keeper's house was contracted separately. The Collector at Mobile , Alabama , purchased the site. The tower was completed and placed in operation in 1848. The tower

1683-533: The county. Harrison County has been studied by CNN and other media, which have reported on the beatings of inmates in the Harrison County Jail in Gulfport. Inmate Jessie Lee Williams Jr. died while in custody on February 4, 2006. In 2006 and 2007, six Harrison County Sheriff's Department deputies pleaded guilty to crimes related to the abuse of inmates at the jail. Sheriff Melvin Brisolara-R

1734-827: The crew and volunteers of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition . Many casinos were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Of the casinos that were located in Biloxi, eight have reopened since Katrina. They are the Grand Biloxi Casino Hotel Spa (formerly known as Grand Casino Biloxi), the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, the Golden Nugget, the Palace Casino Resort, the IP Casino Resort Spa (formerly known as Imperial Palace), Treasure Bay Casino, Boomtown Casino, and

1785-496: The first Jewish synagogue had been built in the town. Biloxi's casino history dates to a period in the 1940s. At the time, open, if technically illegal, gambling took place in a casino within the Broadwater Beach Resort . Open gambling ended during the 1950s. The Mississippi Gulf Coast became known as the "Poor Man's Riviera", and was frequented by Southern families interested in fishing expeditions during

1836-457: The lighthouse was damaged by Hurricane Katrina . Restoration was completed with a re-lighting ceremony on February 19, 2010. The restoration amounted to over $ 400,000; repairs included a rewiring, the interior bricks being redone, an installation of exterior lights, and restoration of the surrounding decorative fence. The lighthouse was featured on Mississippi's automobile license plates from October 2007 to October 2012. A press release from

1887-438: The lighthouse, blue lines were painted on the wall to mark historic storm surges above 'mean sea level' (msl). Hurricanes of 1855 and 1906 reached 14.0 feet above msl, a 1909 hurricane crested at 15.0 feet msl, and Hurricane Camille's record of 17.5 feet was broken by Hurricane Katrina, which crested at 21.5 feet msl. The City of Biloxi has live footage of a view from inside the lighthouse posted to their website. It shows some of

1938-408: The morning of August 31, 2005, in an interview on MSNBC , Governor Barbour stated that 90% of the buildings along the coast in Biloxi and neighboring Gulfport had been destroyed by the hurricane. Several of the "floating" casinos were torn off their supports and thrown inland, contributing to the damage. Many churches were destroyed or severely damaged, including St. Michael's Catholic Church, which

1989-490: The seafood factories. They processed shrimp and other local seafood. These changes gave Biloxi a more heterogeneous population. During World War II , the United States Army Air Forces built Keesler Field, now Keesler Air Force Base , which became a major basic training site and site for aircraft maintenance. The Biloxi economy boomed as a result, attracting new residents and businesses. By 1958,

2040-478: The station was electrified. In April 1960, the beach near the light was the site of a "wade-in" to protest the segregation of Mississippi's beaches. In 2010, a civil rights historical marker was placed at the light to commemorate the demonstration. In 1969, the keeper's house was destroyed by Hurricane Camille . The tower is now owned by the City of Biloxi and is operated as a private aid to navigation. In 2005,

2091-461: The summer. Commercially, Biloxi was dominated by shrimp boats and oyster luggers. The tradition of blessing fishing boats in the US seems to have first taken place in Biloxi in 1929 and has been practised ever since. In 1959, Biloxi was the site of "Mississippi's first public assault on racial barriers in its 15-year civil rights struggle." Gilbert R. Mason , a black physician in Biloxi, went swimming at

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2142-420: The unincorporated community of St. Martin . The Back Bay of Biloxi continues west from the Jackson County line, crossing the city of Biloxi to Big Lake on the city's western boundary, where the Biloxi and Tchoutacabouffa rivers join. The Tchoutacbouffa flows from east to west across the city and forms part of the city's eastern boundary. Biloxi is bordered to the north and east by the city of D'Iberville and to

2193-450: The war. Some local Union sentiment could be discerned following the war's conclusion. In the postbellum period, Biloxi again emerged as a vacation spot. Its popularity as a destination increased with railroad access. In 1881, the first cannery was built in the town to process seafood, leading others to join the location. This stimulated development in the city and attracted new immigrants from Europe and various ethnic groups who worked in

2244-405: The west by the city of Gulfport . According to the United States Census Bureau , Biloxi has a total area of 46.7 square miles (120.9 km), of which 38.2 square miles (99.0 km) are land and 8.5 square miles (21.9 km), or 18.14%, are water. Biloxi has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen : Cfa ) that is heavily influenced by the Gulf of Mexico . Winter days are mild and wet. Snow

2295-454: Was 45 feet (14 m) from the base to the lantern room and displayed nine lamps. The first keeper for the lighthouse was Marcellus J. Howard. Mary Reynolds, with a "large family of orphan children" was appointed keeper on April 11, 1854. She remained in service until the U.S. Civil War . She owed her appointment to Governor Albert Gallatin Brown . In 1856 the light was "refitted." In 1860

2346-495: Was admitted as a state to the union in 1817. Biloxi began to grow. In the antebellum period of the 19th century, it became known as a summer resort due to its proximity to the breezes and beaches of the coast. It also had the advantages of proximity to New Orleans and ease of access via water. Summer homes were built by wealthy slave-owners and commercial figures, and hotels and rental cottages were developed to serve those who could not afford their own homes. The Biloxi Lighthouse

2397-583: Was built in Baltimore , Maryland, and shipped south, where it was completed at the site in May 1848. (It is one of two surviving lighthouses on the Mississippi Gulf Coast , which at one time had twelve.) In the early stages of the Civil War , Ship Island was captured by Union forces , enabling them to take control of Biloxi. No major battles were fought in the area, and Biloxi did not suffer direct damage from

2448-430: Was ceded to Spain as part of the Treaty of Fontainebleau . British rule lasted from 1763 to 1779, followed by Spanish rule from 1779 to 1810. Despite this, the character of Biloxi remained mostly French, as their descendants made up the majority of the population. In 1811, the U.S. traded with Spain to take over Biloxi and the related area, making it part of their Mississippi Territory . Mississippi, and Biloxi with it,

2499-481: Was elected in 2008, for Harrison County. Since 1964, Harrison County has voted overwhelmingly Republican. The last Democrat to receive over 40% of the vote was Jimmy Carter in 1976. School districts include: 30°25′N 89°05′W  /  30.42°N 89.09°W  / 30.42; -89.09 Biloxi Light On March 3, 1847, the United States Congress authorized $ 12,000 for

2550-519: Was gutted by the storm surge, breaking the entry doors and stained-glass windows along the first floor; however, the interior was later removed, and the structure was still solid enough to allow repairing the church. Hurricane Katrina damaged over 40 Mississippi libraries beyond repair, breaking windows and flooding several feet in the Biloxi Public Library, requiring a total rebuild. Hurricane-force winds persisted for 17 hours and tore

2601-427: Was washed away and the tower was threatened during a hurricane on October 1, 1893. The New Orleans Daily Picayune of October 21, 1893, noted that "At Biloxi Mrs. Younghans, the plucky woman who was in charge of the light, kept a light going all through the storm notwithstanding the fact that there were several feet of water in the room where she lived." In 1898, a telephone cable was laid by Reese Hutchinson between

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