Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi, Mississippi City of Biloxi The Biloxi Lighthouse and the Biloxi Visitors Center in November 2011.

The Biloxi Lighthouse and the Biloxi Visitors Center in November 2011.

Biloxi, Mississippi is positioned in the US Biloxi, Mississippi - Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi (/b l ksi/; b -luck-see), officially the City of Biloxi, is a town/city in Harrison County, Mississippi.

Along with the adjoining town/city of Gulfport, Biloxi is a governmental center of county of Harrison County.

Pre-Katrina, Biloxi was the third biggest city in Mississippi behind Jackson and Gulfport.

Post-Katrina, the populace of Biloxi decreased, and it became the fifth biggest city in the state, being surpassed by Hattiesburg and Southaven. The beachfront of Biloxi lies directly on the Mississippi Sound, with barrier islands scattered off the coast and into the Gulf of Mexico.

Old Biloxi (site B) and New Biloxi (site A), French map, beginning of 18th century.

The first permanent settlement in French Louisiana was established at Fort Maurepas, now in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and referred to as Old Biloxi, in 1699 under the direction of Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, with Louisiana separated from Spanish Florida at the Perdido River near Pensacola (founded 1559 and again in 1698).

The name of Biloxi in French was "Bilocci" (with "fort Maurepas"),; on maps dated about year 1710/1725 the name was sometimes interpreted into English as "Fort Bilocci". In 1720, the administrative capital of French Louisiana was moved to Biloxi (or Bilocci) from Mobile (or Mobille).

Due to fears of tides and hurricanes in the 18th century, the capital of French Louisiana was later moved by colonial governor Bienville, in 1723, from Biloxi to a new inland harbor town titled La Nouvelle-Orleans (New Orleans), assembled for the purpose in 1718 1720.

Even with this, the character of Biloxi remained mostly French. In 1811, Biloxi came under United States of America control as part of the Mississippi Territory.

Mississippi, and Biloxi with it, were then admitted to the union in 1817.

One of Biloxi's most known features has been the Biloxi Lighthouse, which was assembled in Baltimore and then shipped south and instead of in May 1848. (It and another are the only surviving lighthouses of twelve that once dotted the Mississippi Gulf Coast.) No primary battles were fought in the area, and Biloxi did not suffer direct damage from the war. Some small-town Union sentiment could be discerned following the war's conclusion. Biloxi interval again, and as different ethnic groups came to work in the seafood factories, Biloxi attained a more heterogeneous population. The Biloxi economy boomed as a result, again bringing more diverse groups to the area.

Biloxi's casino history dates back to a reconstructionin the 1940s, when open, if technically illegal, gambling took place in a casino inside the Broadwater Beach Resort. Open gambling ended amid the 1950s. The Mississippi Gulf Coast became known as the "Poor Man's Riviera", and was incessanted by Southern families interested in fishing expeditions amid the summer. Commercially, Biloxi was dominated by shrimp boats and oyster luggers. In 1959 Biloxi was the site of "Mississippi's first enhance assault on ethnic barriers in its 15-year civil rights struggle" when Gilbert Mason, a physician in Biloxi, went swimming at a small-town beach with seven other black friends.

They were ordered to leave by a town/city policeman, who told them that "Negroes don't come to the sand beach." This initiated a series of protests led by Mason, known as the Biloxi Wade-Ins.

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 center of the focus. Biloxi hotels upgraded their amenities and hired chefs from France and Switzerland in an accomplishment to furnish some of the best seafood cuisine in the country. Edgewater Mall was assembled in 1963.

With the introduction of legal gambling in Mississippi in the 1990s, Biloxi was again transformed. It became an meaningful center for casinos, and the hotels and complexes brought millions of dollars in tourism revenue to the city.

The more famous casino complexes were the Beau Rivage casino resort, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (Biloxi), 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 encircling Gulf Coast region was considered a dominant gambling center in the Southern United States.

To jubilate the area's Tricentennial in 1998/99, 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 calculated 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 the Mississippi Gulf Coast with high winds, heavy rains and a 30-foot (9.1 m) storm surge, causing massive damage to the area.

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 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 finished by the hurricane.

Hurricane Katrina damaged over 40 Mississippi libraries beyond repair, breaking windows and flooding a several feet in the Biloxi Public Library, requiring a total rebuild. Hargrove told the mayor and City Council that Hurricane Katrina had claimed 53 victims in Biloxi, as of January 30, 2006.

Of 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 earliest 90; 14 were female and 39 were male.

Biloxi is also the site of a well-known memorial to the Katrina victims, assembled by the crew and volunteers of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Of the casinos that were positioned 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 Isle of Capri Casino and Resort, the Palace Casino Resort, the IP Casino Resort Spa (formerly known as Imperial Palace), Treasure Bay Casino, Boomtown Casino, and 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 town/city of Biloxi is quickly implementing plans to allow the redevelopment of commercial properties south of highway 90. Hurricane Katrina pushed homes inland along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, including at Biloxi.

Casino barges floated ashore in Biloxi amid Hurricane Katrina's storm surge.

Navy personnel perform a search and rescue mission in Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina.

Biloxi beach amid cleanup of storm debris.

Front view of Beauvoir in Biloxi, 7 months after Hurricane Katrina.

Location of Biloxi, Mississippi, east of Gulfport (center), on Gulf of Mexico.

Biloxi has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa) that is heavily influenced by the Gulf of Mexico.

Biloxi's record low of 10 F ( 12.2 C) was recorded on January 24, 1963, and the record high of 104 F (40 C) was recorded on August 29, 2000.

Climate data for Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi is the lesser of two principal metros/cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is encompassed in the Gulport-Biloxi-Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area.

In 2005, as a result of Hurricane Katrina, many Vietnamese Americans left Biloxi.

In 2009 members of the Vietnamese improve in Biloxi said that Vietnamese are coming back to Biloxi due to a poor economic scenario in other parts of the United States. Biloxi is home to a several casino resort hotels, with 24-hour gambling, concert entertainment shows, and a several restaurants.

Biloxi Casinos Harrah's Gulf Coast, formerly Grand Casino Biloxi Biloxi is the setting of Neil Simon's play and film Biloxi Blues, which starred Mathew Broderick.

Biloxi is the setting of a several John Grisham novels, including The Runaway Jury, The Summons, The Partner, and The Last Juror.

On his largest-selling regular album, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977), Jimmy Buffett encompassed a cover of "Biloxi" (see above); also, a compilation album of his digitally remastered greatest hits was released in 1995 called Biloxi.

Louisiana, Biloxi, and Alabama are specifically used by name.

From 1990 to 1994, Biloxi served as home to the Miss Teen USA Pageant.

In 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.

The Huntsville Stars of the Class AA Southern League in Minor League Baseball were sold in January 2014 to an ownership group that plans to relocate the team to Biloxi for the 2015 season at a newly constructed stadium titled MGM Park. Biloxi was the host town/city of the 2009 Women's World Military Cup.

Biloxi City Futbol Club is set to join the Louisiana Premier League for the fall of 2016. Biloxi City Hall The Bolton State Office Building in Biloxi includes the command posts 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 region postal services. The City of Biloxi is served by the Biloxi Public School District and the Harrison County School District.

The Gulf Coast has a large Catholic school system, of whose schools Biloxi hosts fifteen. See also: List of newspapers in Mississippi, List of airways broadcasts in Mississippi, and List of tv stations in Mississippi Biloxi has one daily newspaper, the Sun Herald, which is headquartered in close-by Gulfport.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the Biloxi market, as of the 2015-2016 season, is the third biggest of five tv markets in Mississippi, and the 158th biggest in the country. Three primary tv stations serve the Biloxi area.

ABC partner WLOX 13 and PBS/MPB member station WMAH-TV 19 are positioned in Biloxi, while Fox/My - Network - TV partner WXXV-TV 25 is positioned in Gulfport.

20 FM and 7 AM airways broadcasts operate in and/or serve the Biloxi area.

Biloxi is served by the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Biloxi's chief highway is U.S.

The Biloxi Bay Bridge, connecting Biloxi and Ocean Springs, was rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina, and was fully reopened in April 2008.

Argile Smith, Southern Baptist clergyman and educator, incoming interim president of Louisiana College, former pastor of First Baptist Church of Biloxi Biloxi City Hall List of mayors of Biloxi, Mississippi a b "La Louisiane francaise" (in French), by Virginie Tanlay, from book Histoire de la Louisiane, flfa-enquete7 Archived March 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.: states that Iberville chose "le site de Bilocci" (or Biloxi) a b c d e "Biloxi: A Historic & Cultural Overview".

City of Biloxi historical pamphlet, 2003.

"Biloxi Lighthouse".

City of Biloxi historical datasheet, 2003.

"The Landmark Broadwater Hotel, Once Biloxi's Premier Resort, Shutting Down".

"NAACP Denies Biloxi Riot Role".

"2005 NOAA Tide Predictions: Biloxi (Cadet Point), Biloxi Bay" (2005), tide on 29-Aug-2005, NOAA, web: NOAA-tide-tables.

"Hurricane Katrina Related Damages to Public Libraries in Mississippi" (September 2005), Mississippi Library Commission, web:ALA-Katrina.

"Tentative re-opening plans for Biloxi casino resorts" (2006), City of Biloxi, www.Biloxi.ms.us, webpage:Biloxi-Casinos.

Beachfront Development On Biloxi's Front Burner WLOX News.

"Average Weather for Biloxi, MS Temperature and Precipitation".

"Biloxi Vietnamese say poor economy equals small-town populace rise." "Isle of Capri selling Coast casino for $45 - M to Golden Nugget - Mississippi Business Journal".

Margaritaville Casino closes in Biloxi Retrieved 2014-11-02 "It's official: Huntsville Stars sold, expected to move to Biloxi in 2015".

"Biloxi City Futbol Club second expansion team to join LPL for 2016-2017 season".

"Post Office Location - BILOXI Archived September 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.." "Stations for Biloxi, Mississippi".

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Biloxi, Mississippi.

Biloxi Beach Webcam Photographs of Hurricane Katrina's destruction on Mississippi's Gulf Coast from davidmetraux.com City of Biloxi at the Wayback Machine (archived January 10, 1998)

Categories:
Populated places established in 1699 - Cities in Mississippi - Biloxi, Mississippi - Cities in Harrison County, Mississippi - Gambling in Mississippi - Former colonial and territorial capitals in the United States - County seats in Mississippi - Gulfport Biloxi urbane region - French-American culture in Mississippi - Populated coastal places in Mississippi - 1699 establishments in the French colonial empire