Biloxi’s Past and Present Make for a great Gulf Coast Holiday
Biloxi‘s Past and Present Alllow for an incredible Gulf Coast Holiday
The City of Biloxi has a long history of strength simply because its location on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast has demanded it. Biloxi had been home to Native Americans for thousands of years. When the French settled the area in 1699 in their quest to find the mouth of the Mississippi River, they were greeted by the Biloxi Indians for whom they named their settlement. Biloxi had been the capital of the French Louisiana territory until 1723, when that title went to New Orleans. In 1817, Mississippi became a state, and Biloxi began to grow into a summer destination and afterwards a fishing and seafood cannery center. Today, it is also home to Keesler Air Force Base and with its neighbor, Gulfport, is the Harrison County seat.
For more than a century, people have flocked to Biloxi to relish the white-sand beaches and calm waters of the Mississippi Sound. In the early 1990s, the state of Mississippi legalized casino gambling, and Biloxi constructed several floating casinos along its main highway instigating a tourism boom for the county. After Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, 90 percent of the buildings along the county’s coast were ruined. Many moored casinos had been thrown inland. Despite this destruction, Biloxi moved swiftly to rebuild. Today, 11 casinos in Harrison County are back in business, making Biloxi second only to Las Vegas in gaming space. In March 2009, the Restore Biloxi Project was funded to rebuilt or repair virtually all locations damaged by Katrina. The freshly developed or renovated Biloxi vacation rentals, Biloxi Condo Rentals, and casino resorts are usually even more luxurious, provide even more types of entertainment, lodging, and wider and more enjoyable selections in dining.
Even if you happen to be attracted to Biloxi for the casino, it is really worth finding the time to discover a number of the city’s various other attractions. Biloxi is among the country’s oldest communities, and some historic houses and buildings off the beachfront that survived Katrina will probably intrigue and delight history enthusiasts. The 1847 Biloxi Lighthouse has long been a major symbol of the city’s maritime history and now this hurricane survivor serves as a symbol of hope. Not only historic, this lighthouse is usually decidedly unique; it’s the only US lighthouse located in the middle of a 4 lane highway. West of the lighthouse is Beauvoir, the final home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. After considerable renovation, Beauvoir is now open to the public. An adjoining cemetery contains the burial plots of more than 700 Confederate soldiers, as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier.