Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

s of Harrison County,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated population was 46,212. The area's first European settlers were French colonists. The city is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area and the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, MS Combined Statistical Area. Prior to

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

, Biloxi was the third-largest city in Mississippi, behind Jackson and Gulfport. Due to the widespread destruction and flooding, many refugees left the city. Post-Katrina, the population of Biloxi decreased, and it became the fifth-largest city in the state, being surpassed by Hattiesburg and

Southaven Southaven is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. It is a principal city in Greater Memphis. The 2020 census reported a population of 54,648, making Southaven the third-largest city in Mississippi and the second most populous ...

. The beachfront of Biloxi lies directly on the Mississippi Sound, with

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...

s scattered off the coast and into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

Keesler Air Force Base Keesler Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, a city along the Gulf Coast in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. The base is named in honor of aviator 2d Lt Samuel Reeves Keesler Jr., a Mississippi nat ...

lies within the city and is home to the 81st Training Wing and the 403d Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

History

Colonial era

In 1699 French colonists formed the first, permanent, European settlement in

French Louisiana The term French Louisiana refers to two distinct regions: * first, to colonial French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by France during the 17th and 18th centuries; and, * second, to modern French Louisi ...

, at Fort Maurepas, now in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and referred to as "Old Biloxi". They were under the direction of

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...

. La Louisiane was separated from

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida ( es, La Florida) was the first major European land claim and attempted settlement in North America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, ...

at the Perdido River near Pensacola (this was founded by 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 Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

. Labeled along with ''"Fort Maurepas"'' on maps dated circa year 1710/1725, the name was sometimes used in English as "Fort Bilocci"."Pas-Kaart Van de Golff van Mexico" (map from Amsterdam/1710), Edge of the Map Incorporated, 2007, webpage:
Raremaps-Archive-3176
."A New Map of as much of North & South America" (London/1725), Edge of the Map Incorporated, 2007, webpage:
Raremaps-Archive-7278
. In 1720, the area of today's city of Biloxi was settled for the first time around ''Fort Louis''. In this year the administrative capital of French Louisiana was moved to Biloxi (or ''Bilocci'') from Mobile (or ''La Mobile''). French Louisiana, part of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

, 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 Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

."La Louisiane française" (in French), by Virginie Tanlay, from book ''Histoire de la Louisiane''
flfa-enquete7
: states that Iberville chose "le site de Bilocci" (or Biloxi) Due to fears of tides and hurricanes, colonial governor Bienville moved the capital of French Louisiana in 1722 from Biloxi to a new inland harbor town named ''La Nouvelle-Orléans'' (

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

), built for this purpose in 1718–1720. In 1763, following Britain's victory in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

had to cede their colonies east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

, except for New Orleans, to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

, as part of the Treaty of Paris. At the same time, the French colony west of the Mississippi, plus New Orleans, was ceded to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

as part of the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

Subsequent history

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."Biloxi: A Historic & Cultural Overview". City of Biloxi historical pamphlet, 2003. In 1811, the US traded with Spain to take over Biloxi and related area, making it part of their

Mississippi Territory The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the western half of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Mississippi. T ...

. Mississippi, and Biloxi with it, 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, because of 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. Hotels and rental cottages were developed to serve those who could not afford their own homes. The Biloxi Lighthouse was built in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, Maryland, and shipped south, where it was completed at the site in May 1848."Biloxi Lighthouse". City of Biloxi historical datasheet, 2003. (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 A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, Ship Island was captured by

Union forces Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, enabling them to take control of Biloxi. No major battles were fought in the area, and Biloxi did not suffer direct damage from 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 Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although ...

was built in the town to process seafood, leading to others soon joining the location. This stimulated development in the city, and it attracted new immigrants from Europe and different

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

s who worked in the seafood factories. They processed shrimp and other local seafood. These changes gave Biloxi a more heterogeneous population. Howard Street Biloxi Mississippi 1906

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

built Keesler Field, now

, which became a major

basic training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique deman ...

site and site for aircraft maintenance. The Biloxi economy boomed as a result,"Biloxi/Gulfport, Mississippi"
, Institute of Southern Jewish Life attracting new residents and businesses. By 1958, the first

Jewish synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worsh ...

had been built in the town. Biloxi's

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

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 Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

families interested in fishing expeditions during the summer. Commercially, Biloxi was dominated by shrimp boats and oyster luggers. 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 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." Mason reacted by leading a series of protests, known as the Biloxi Wade-Ins. The protests were followed in 1960 by the worst racial riot in Mississippi history, during which ten people died. Ultimately, the protests led to the desegregation of the beaches of Biloxi. In the early 1960s, the Gulf Coast again emerged as a prime alternative to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

as a southern vacation destination among Northerners, with Biloxi a favored destination. Biloxi hotels upgraded their amenities and hired chefs from France and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in an effort to provide some of 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, the

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ...

, Casino Magic, Grand Casino, Isle of Capri Casino Resort Biloxi, Boomtown Casino,

President Casino Broadwater Resort The President Casino Broadwater Resort was a combined casino and resort that was located in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was a fixture on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for over 60 years. Originally known as the Broadwater Beach Hotel and Broadwater ...

, 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 The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. To celebrate 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. By the early 21st century, Biloxi's economy was based on the seafood industry, tourism, and gaming.

Hurricanes

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,

hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast with high winds, heavy rains and a storm surge, causing massive damage to the area. Katrina came ashore during the high tide of 6:56am, +2.3 feet more. Commenting on the power of the storm and the damage, Mayor A. J. Holloway said, "This is our

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

." Mississippi Governor

Haley Barbour Haley Reeves Barbour (born October 22, 1947) is an American attorney, politician, and lobbyist who served as the 63rd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as chairman of the Republican ...

was quoted as saying the destruction of the Mississippi coastline by Hurricane Katrina looked like an American

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui ...

. On the morning of August 31, 2005, in an interview on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

, 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 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 the branches off many coastal oak trees, but the tree trunks survived the flood and many have since regrown smaller branches. Some reconstructed homes still have their

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ar ...

appearance, and miles inland, with less flooding, shopping centers have reopened. Harrison County

Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner's jur ...

Gary T. 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 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 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 the Beau Rivage, which reopened on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina."Tentative re-opening plans for Biloxi casino resorts" (2006), City of Biloxi, www.Biloxi.ms.us, webpag
Biloxi-Casinos
. 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 is rapidly implementing plans to allow the redevelopment of commercial properties south of Highway 90. File:Katrina-14588.jpg, Hurricane Katrina pushed houses inland along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, including at Biloxi. File:Katrina-biloxi-miss-grand-casino2-2005.jpg, Casino barges floated ashore in Biloxi during Hurricane Katrina's storm surge. File:US Navy 050905-N-0000X-003 U.S. Navy Sailors, assigned to the amphibious transport dock USS Shreveport (LPD 12), perform a search and rescue mission following Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss.jpg, U.S. Navy personnel perform a search and rescue mission in Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina. File:Beach Cleanup 060302-N-9246W-0061.jpg, Biloxi beach during cleanup of storm debris File:Beauvoir-Biloxi-Mississippi-Hurricane-Katrina-FEMA-2006-585px.jpg, Front view of Beauvoir in Biloxi, 7 months after Hurricane Katrina

Geography and climate

Biloxi is located in southeastern Harrison County, bordered to the south by Mississippi Sound (part of the

) 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 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 the west by the city of Gulfport. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, Biloxi has a total area of , of which are land and , or 18.14%, are water. Mississippi-Coast-towns-NOAA

Biloxi has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

( Köppen: ''Cfa'') that is heavily influenced by the

. Winter days are mild and wet. Snow 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 was recorded on January 24, 1963, and the record high of was recorded on August 29, 2000.

Demographics

Biloxi is the smaller of two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

, which is included in the Gulport-Biloxi-Pascagoula

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and ...

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

, there were 49,449 people, 17,923 households, and 10,922 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 50,644 people, 19,588 households, and 12,379 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 1,331.8 per square mile (514.2/km). There were 22,115 housing units at an average density of 581.6 per square mile (224.5/km). The racial makeup of the city was 71.43%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 19.04%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.49% Native American, 5.11% Asian, 0.11%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 1.43% from other races, and 2.38% from two or more races. 3.65% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race. There were 19,588 households, out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.8% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.02. In the city, the population dispersal was 24.2% under the age of 18, 14.3% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $34,106, and the median income for a family was $40,685. Males had a median income of $28,046 versus $21,267 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $17,809. 14.6% of the population and 11.2% of families lived below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

. Out of the total population, 19.6% of those under the age of 18 and 11.7% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. In 2005, as a result of

, many

Vietnamese American Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chinese ...

s left Biloxi. In 2009 members of the Vietnamese community in Biloxi said that Vietnamese were coming back to Biloxi due to a poor economic scenario in other parts of the United States.

Economy

Casinos

Biloxi is home to eight

resort hotels, with 24-hour

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

, concert entertainment shows, and several restaurants. Some of the current casino resorts include (dates reflect business status after Hurricane Katrina): Biloxi Casinos

* Beau Rivage Resort & Casino (Reopened August 29, 2006, on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina). * Golden Nugget Biloxi *

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ro ...

(Opened June 2007) *

Harrah's Gulf Coast Harrah's Gulf Coast is a casino and hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi, owned by Vici Properties and operated by Caesars Entertainment. This facility replaces the former Grand Casino Biloxi, which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. At the time, the c ...

IP Casino Resort & Spa The IP Casino Resort Spa is a resort located in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was founded by Minnesota businessman Ralph Engelstad. History The property officially opened for business on December 22, 1997 as the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino Bil ...

(Reopened December 22, 2005) * Palace Casino Resort * Boomtown Casino (Reopened 2006) * Treasure Bay Casino

Arts and culture

* 2010 saw the grand opening of the new Frank Gehry designed

Ohr-O'Keefe Museum Of Art The Ohr-O'Keefe Museum Of Art is a non-profit art museum located in Biloxi, Mississippi, dedicated to the ceramics of George E. Ohr, the self-proclaimed "Mad Potter of Biloxi". The museum is named for ceramic artist George E. Ohr (1857–1918) ...

* Biloxi is the setting of

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

's play and film ''

Biloxi Blues ''Biloxi Blues'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It portrays the conflict of Sergeant Merwin J. Toomey and Arnold Epstein, one of many privates enlisted in the military stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi, seen through the eyes of E ...

'', which starred Mathew Broderick. ''Biloxi Blues'' is the story of army recruits during World War II training at Keesler Field, the present-day

. * Biloxi is the setting of several John Grisham novels, including The Runaway Jury, '' The Partner,'' and ''The Boys from Biloxi'' (2022). * A substantial portion of Larry Brown's novel ''

Fay A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

'' is set in Biloxi. * American singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester wrote and recorded a song called "Biloxi", for which he was inspired by a few images he saw of the city. The song was recorded by

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal ...

singer Iain Matthews for his 1974 album '' Some Days You Eat the Bear''. * On his largest-selling regular album, '' Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes'' (1977),

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

included a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

of "Biloxi" (see above); also, a compilation album of his digitally remastered greatest hits was released in 1995 called '' Biloxi''. * The song "Louisiana", by The Loved Ones, is about the rebuilding of the hurricane ravaged areas on the Gulf Coast. Louisiana, Biloxi, and Alabama are specifically used by name. * From 1990 to 1994, Biloxi served as home to the

Miss Teen USA Pageant Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the ...

. * American journalist and novelist Joan Didion mentions Biloxi and the Edgewater Plaza mall in her collection of essays, '' The White Album''.

Sports

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. Spotted seatrout, red drum, Spanish and king mackerel,

flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related species, thou ...

, snapper,

grouper Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" ...

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

s, and more are all available to anglers during the fishing season. It is not known how Hurricane Katrina affected this

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

. The Biloxi Shuckers, the Class AA Southern League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers play in MGM Park. Biloxi was the host city of the 2009 Women's

World Military Cup The World Military Cup is a Association football, football competition for national military teams. It is organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM). The tournament has been held since 1946 and was originally called the World Mi ...

. Biloxi City Futbol Club is set to join the

Louisiana Premier League The Gulf Coast Premier League (GCPL) is a United States Adult Soccer Association affiliated Amateur Elite League that includes teams from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The regular season of the GCPL runs May through July. On ...

for the fall of 2016.

Government

The Bolton State Office Building in Biloxi includes the headquarters of the

Mississippi Department of Marine Resources The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) is a state agency of Mississippi headquartered in the Eldon Bolton State Office building in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was created by the legislature as a new state agency in 1994 to manage Missis ...

and the South Regional Office of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

operates the Biloxi Post Office and other area post offices.

Fire department

The Biloxi Fire Department will have 10 Stations in both 2018 and 2019. As of right now, Station 7 is operated by 4 firefighters in a trailer in Woolmarket. Station 7 will be on the property of the dispatch center and the maintenance facilities, right by the road. It will be a 3-bay Fire Station in the design of a beach house. Station 10 is being built on Old Highway 67 and will look similar to Stations 2 and 9.

Education

The city is served by the Biloxi Public School District and the Harrison County School District. The Gulf Coast has a large Catholic school system, 15 of which are in Biloxi.

Media

Newspaper

Biloxi has one daily newspaper, the '' Sun Herald'', which is headquartered in nearby Gulfport.

Television

According to

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

, 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 the Biloxi area. ABC affiliate

WLOX WLOX (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Biloxi, Mississippi, United States, serving the Mississippi Gulf Coast as an affiliate of ABC and CBS. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on DeBuys Road in Biloxi, an ...

13 and PBS/ MPB member station WMAH-TV 19 are located in Biloxi, while Fox/

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

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.

Radio

20 FM and 7 AM radio stations operate in and/or serve the Biloxi area.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Biloxi is served by the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Gulfport. Biloxi's main highway is

U.S. Highway 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. With the exception of a short-lived ...

(Beach Boulevard), which runs along the beach and by the casinos. It connects the city to Gulfport and points westward and to Ocean Springs and Pascagoula to the east. The Biloxi Bay Bridge, connecting Biloxi and Ocean Springs, was rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina, and was fully reopened in April 2008.

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally p ...

passes through the northern sections of the city, leading west to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and east to

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth-most-populous city in Alabama ...

. Interstate 110 splits off from I-10 at D'Iberville and heads south across the Back Bay of Biloxi to U.S. 90 near Beau Rivage, providing the city with an important hurricane evacuation route. North–south highways serving the area include: * Mississippi Highway 15 (runs concurrently with I-110 for the first few miles) *

Mississippi Highway 67 Mississippi Highway 67 (MS 67) is a state highway in Mississippi. It is an expressway and generally runs northwest for from the Interstate 10, Interstate 110, and Mississippi Highway 15 cloverleaf interchange in D'Iberville, to a trumpet int ...

Notable people

* Jessica Alba, model and actress, lived in Biloxi while her father was stationed at

* Lionel Antoine,

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

third overall pick in 1972 NFL Draft * Laura Bailey, voice actress * Casey Eure, American politician, elected into the Mississippi House of Representatives * Matt Barlow, heavy metal singer * Alan Belcher, MMA fighter with UFC * Belladonna, retired pornographic actress, director, producer, and model *

Jimmy Bertrand Jimmy Bertrand (February 24, 1900 – August 1960) was an American jazz and blues percussionist. Background Bertrand was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, and was active on the Chicago blues and jazz scene of the 1920s. Bertrand recorded with Loui ...

, jazz drummer * Malcolm Brown, NFL running back for

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

* Hector Camacho, world champion boxer * Isaiah Canaan, point guard,

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

Chris Carson Christopher Dewayne Carson (born September 16, 1994) is a former American football running back. He played professionally for five seasons for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), after playing college football at Butler C ...

, NFL running back for

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

* Gary Collins, actor and television personality *

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as ...

, U.S. Army general and West Point graduate; U.S. Secretary of War (Defense); only president of

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

* Gwen Dickey, singer best known as the front-woman of the R&B band Rose Royce * Ronald Dupree, professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player *

Leonard Fairley Leonard C. Fairley (born January 2, 1951) is a former American football cornerback who played one season with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Oilers in the seventh round of the 1974 NFL Draft. He p ...

, football player * Damion Fletcher,

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to a ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

* Jeff Gann, professional wrestler known as "The Gambler" * Fred Haise,

Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...

and Space Shuttle ''Enterprise'' astronaut * Ted Hawkins, singer-songwriter * Michael Janus, Mississippi state legislator * Tim Jones (American football), wide receiver NFL player for

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

* Chris LeDoux, country singer * Barry Lyons, catcher for

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

* James Millhollin, character actor, died in Biloxi in 1993 *

Mark Miloscia Mark Anthony Miloscia (born September 13, 1958) is an American politician and former public school teacher who served in the Washington State Senate from 2015 to 2019. A Democrat for more than twenty years, in 2014 he switched to the Republican ...

, former Washington State Senator * Mary Ann Mobley, actress and

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

* Russell D. Moore, President of the

Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) is the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, the second-largest Christian denomination in the United States, with over 16 million members in over 43,000 independent churches. Pr ...

(ERLC) *

Francis D. Moran Rear Admiral Francis D. "Bill" Moran (born 8 April 1935) is a retired career officer who served in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, its successor, the Environmental Science Services Administration Corps (ESSA Corps), and the ESSA ...

, third director of

NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ ...

* Jack Nelson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who began career at Biloxi ''Daily Herald'' * George E. Ohr, groundbreaking potter and father of American Abstract-Expressionism movement * Chuck Pfarrer, former Navy SEAL, Hollywood screenwriter, New York Times best selling author, novelist *

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...

, Oscar-nominated actor * Wes Shivers, NFL player for

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

and mixed martial artist * John Kennedy Toole, author of '' A Confederacy of Dunces'', committed suicide in Biloxi in 1969 * Brenda Venus, model and actress

Filming location

Several films have been produced in Biloxi, including: *'' Mississippi Masala'', 1992 film starring

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

. *''

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

'', 2017 film starring Adrian Grenier, John Cusack, and

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...

. *'' Vanquish'', 2021 film starring

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

and

Ruby Rose Ruby Rose Langenheim (born 20 March 1986) is an Australian model, actress, disc jockey and television presenter. Rose was a presenter on MTV Australia (2007–2011), followed by several high-profile modelling gigs, including Maybelline New Yor ...

References

External links

*
Photographs and Video of Hurricane Katrina's Aftermath
from photosfromkatrina.com * {{Authority control Populated places established in 1720 Cities in Mississippi Cities in Harrison County, Mississippi Gambling in Mississippi Former colonial and territorial capitals in the United States County seats in Mississippi Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area French-American culture in Mississippi Populated coastal places in Mississippi 1720 establishments in the French colonial empire