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Gulfport, Mississippi
—  City  —
Highway sign along U.S. Route 90
Motto: Where Your Ship Comes In
Location of Gulfport in the State of Mississippi
Coordinates: 30°24′6″N 89°4′34″W / 30.40167°N 89.07611°W / 30.40167; -89.07611Coordinates: 30°24′6″N 89°4′34″W / 30.40167°N 89.07611°W / 30.40167; -89.07611
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Harrison
Founded
Incorporated	July 28, 1898
Government
• Type	Mayor, 7 Member Council
• Mayor	George Schloegel
Area
• City	64.2 sq mi (166.4 km2)
• Land	56.9 sq mi (147.4 km2)
• Water	7.3 sq mi (19.0 km2)
Elevation	20 ft (6 m)
Population (United States Census 2010)
• City	67,793
• Density	1,231/sq mi (475/km2)
• Metro	371,694
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP Codes	39501-39503, 39505-39507
Area code(s)	228
FIPS code	28-29700
GNIS feature ID	0670771
Website	www.gulfport-ms.gov

Gulfport is the second largest city in Mississippi after the state capital Jackson. It is the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area^[1], which is included in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the city of Gulfport had a total population of 67,793. Gulfport is co-county seat with Biloxi of Harrison County, Mississippi. Gulfport is also home to the US Navy Atlantic Fleet Seabees^[2].

History[link]

Gulfport was incorporated on July 28, 1898. Gulfport was founded by two men: William H. Hardy^[3] who was president of the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad (G&SIRR) that connected inland lumber mills to the coast, and Joseph T. Jones who later took over the G&SIRR, dredged the harbor in Gulfport, and opened the shipping channel to the sea. In 1902, the harbor was completed and the Port of Gulfport became a working seaport that now accounts for millions of dollars in annual sales and tax revenue for the state of Mississippi.

From its beginnings as a lumber port, Gulfport evolved into a diversified city. With about 6.7 miles (10.7 kilometers) of white sand beaches along the Gulf of Mexico, Gulfport has become a tourism destination, due in large part to Mississippi's Coast Casinos. Gulfport has served as host to popular cultural events such as the "World's Largest Fishing Rodeo," "Cruisin' the Coast" (a week of classic cars), and "Smokin' the Sound" (speedboat races). Gulfport is a thriving residential community with a strong mercantile center. There are historic neighborhoods and home sites, as well as diverse shopping opportunities and several motels scattered throughout to accommodate golfing, gambling, and water-sport tourism.

In 1910, the U.S. Post Office and Customhouse was built. The Gulfport Post office was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984^[4].

In March 1916, Mayor George M. Foote announced that the Andrew Carnegie Corporation was going to place a Carnegie Library^[5] in Gulfport.

In December 1993, the City annexed 33 square miles (85 square kilometers) north of Gulfport making it the second largest city in Mississippi.

On August 29, 2005, Gulfport was hit by the strong east side of Hurricane Katrina, and much of Gulfport was flooded or destroyed (see details below). Much of Gulfport was also severely damaged by Hurricane Camille on August 17, 1969.

Geography[link]

Gulfport is located at 30°24'6" North, 89°4'34" W (30.401641,   -89.076169).^[6]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total area of 64.2 square miles (166.4 km²), of which 56.9 square miles (147.4 km²) is land and 7.3 square miles (19.0 km²) is water. The total area was 11.40% water.

Gulfport, Mississippi (map center) is east of Long Beach, west of Biloxi, along the Gulf of Mexico.

Demographics[link]

According to the census^[7] of 2010, there were 67,793 people residing in the city. The population density was 1,191.4 people per square mile (459.9/km²). The city had 50,825 or 74.97% of its population at the age of 18 and above. The racial makeup of the city was 56.86% White, 36.07% African American, 0.39% Native American, 1.69% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 2.13% from other races, and 2.73% from two or more races. Results show that 5.19% of the population was Hispanic/Latino of any race.

There were 31,602 housing units at an average density of 555.4 per square mile (214.4/km²). The city had 83.24% of housing units occupied. There were an average of 2.57 persons living in each occupied housing unit.

Comparing the 2000 and 2010 Census, the population of the city went down while the total number of housing units rose. This can be attributed to Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed housing and displaced people. New housing development has continued with a mixture of redevelopment from hurricane damage, though not all of the displaced population returned.

As of the census^[7] of 2000, there were 26,943 households out of which 32.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.6% were married couples living together, 18.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.5% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.07.

In Gulfport, the population dispersal was 26.0% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $32,779, and the median income for a family was $39,213. Males had a median income of $29,220 versus $21,736 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,554. 17.7% of the population and 14.1% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 25.8% of those under the age of 18 and 13.7% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Gulfport is the location of Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. The airport suffered extensive damage due to Hurricane Katrina. A major renovation project is for the most part completed and it has resumed commercial air service. New airlines are being regularly added.

Education[link]

The City of Gulfport is served by the Gulfport School District and the Harrison County School District. Gulfport is also home to William Carey, a private Baptist College. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Jefferson Davis Campus is also located in Gulfport.

The USM Gulf Coast Student Service Center (occupying 50,000 square feet (4,600 m²) in the Healthmark Center at 1520 Broad Avenue in Gulfport) has been configured to provide classrooms and other re-educational resources to the Southern Miss Gulf Coast student population in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

^[8]

Government[link]

Gulfport Police[link]

The Gulfport Police Department has 201 sworn personnel and 92 civilian staff to serve the city.

U.S. Coast Guard[link]

The U.S. Coast Guard operates 7 boats out of the port of Gulfport 2 of which are Patrol Boats. The Gulfport station has 110 members which include Active, Reserve and Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Media[link]

Gulfport's local newspaper is The Sun Herald. It is also served by two television stations, the ABC affiliate WLOX and CBS on WLOX-DT2, the Fox affiliate WXXV, and WXXV Digital signal on Channel 25.2 mynetworktv affiliate. There are also seven radio stations in the Gulfport area.^[9]

Gulfport/Biloxi International Airport/ ANG base[link]

Air[link]

Gulfport/Biloxi and the Gulf Coast area is served by the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport.

Scheduled passenger service[link]

• AirTran Airways (Gate 2) (Atlanta and Tampa)
• American Airlines (Gate 1)
  • American Eagle (Dallas/Fort Worth)
• Continental Airlines (Gate 3)
  • Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental)
• Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) (Gate 5 and 6)
  • Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Atlanta)
  • Delta Connection operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Memphis)
• US Airways (Gate 2)
  • US Airways Express operated by PSA Airlines (Charlotte)
• Vision Airlines (Gate 7) (St. Petersburg)

Military[link]

• Naval Construction Battalion Center (Navy)
• 890th Engineer Battalion Mississippi Army National Guard
• 1108th Theater Aviation Support Maintenance Group (TASMG) (Army)
• 255th Air Control Squadron (Air Force/Mississippi Air National Guard)
• 209th Civil Engineer Squadron(Air Force/Mississippi Air National Guard)
• U.S Coast Guard

State and Federal Law Enforcement[link]

• MEMA
• FEMA

Hurricane Katrina[link]

Damage to Marine Life Oceanarium and Casinos at port facility

On August 29, 2005, Gulfport was hit by the strong eastern side of Hurricane Katrina. Much of the city was flooded or destroyed in one day by the strong, hurricane-force winds which lasted over 16 hours and a storm surge exceeding 28 feet (9 m) in some sections.^[10]

Hurricane Katrina damaged over 40 Mississippi libraries, gutting the Gulfport Public Library, first floor, and breaking windows on the second floor, beyond repair, requiring total reconstruction.^[11]

The Sun Herald newspaper in Biloxi-Gulfport, under the executive editor Stanley R. Tiner, won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in journalism for its Katrina coverage.

Notable residents (past and present)[link]

• Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (birth name: Chris Jackson), former NBA point guard for the Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings and Vancouver Grizzlies.
• Thomas H. Anderson, Jr., Ambassador of the United States to Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia, Antigua, St. Vincent, and St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla from 1984 to 1986, was born in Gulfport.^[12]
• William Joel Blass, Attorney and educator.
• Timmy Bowers, Basketball player.
• Rod Davis, National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings
• Brett Favre, Quarterback in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings, was born in Gulfport.
• William H. Hardy, co-founder of the city of Gulfport.
• Boyce Holleman, Attorney and Actor.
• Joseph T. Jones, co-founder of the city of Gulfport.
• Matt Lawton, former Major League Baseball player best known for his stint with the Minnesota Twins.
• Brittney Reese, American Olympian and current World Record Holder in the Women's Long Jump]].
• Stuart Roosa, Colonel, US Air Force, Apollo 14 astronaut, Command Module Pilot. Brought seeds to moon that germinated in space.
• Natasha Trethewey, Pulitzer Prize winning poet and Professor at Emory University. Born in Gulfport.
• Tito Lopez, Hip Hop Artist signed by Capital Records, Graduated from Gulfport High School.

See also[link]

Mississippi portal

• Bible belt
• Gulf and Ship Island Railroad

References[link]

External links[link]

• City of Gulfport Official website
• History of Gulfport's Jewish community (from the Institute of Southern Jewish Life)

v t e Municipalities and communities of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States County seats: Biloxi and Gulfport Cities Biloxi D'Iberville Gulfport Long Beach Pass Christian CDPs DeLisle Henderson Point Lyman Saucier Unincorporated communities Cuevas Howison Lizana Woolmarket

v t e  State of Mississippi Jackson (capital) Topics Mississippians Delegations Governors Lieutenant Governors Legislature State Parks State Landmarks Music History Geography Education Visitor Attractions Regions The Delta Golden Triangle Gulf Coast Mississippi Plain Natchez District Pine Belt Tennessee Valley Metros Gulfport-Biloxi Hattiesburg Jackson Memphis (TN) Pascagoula Larger cities Biloxi Clarksdale Clinton Columbus Greenville Gulfport Hattiesburg Jackson Meridian Olive Branch Pascagoula Pearl Ridgeland Southaven Starkville Tupelo Vicksburg Smaller cities Bay St. Louis Brandon Brookhaven Canton Cleveland Corinth Gautier Greenwood Grenada Horn Lake Indianola Itta Bena Laurel Long Beach Madison McComb Moss Point Natchez Ocean Springs Oxford Pass Christian Picayune Tunica Waveland West Hattiesburg (Oak Grove) West Point Yazoo City Counties Adams Alcorn Amite Attala Benton Bolivar Calhoun Carroll Chickasaw Choctaw Claiborne Clarke Clay Coahoma Copiah Covington DeSoto Forrest Franklin George Greene Grenada Hancock Harrison Hinds Holmes Humphreys Issaquena Itawamba Jackson Jasper Jefferson Jefferson Davis Jones Kemper Lafayette Lamar Lauderdale Lawrence Leake Lee Leflore Lincoln Lowndes Madison Marion Marshall Monroe Montgomery Neshoba Newton Noxubee Oktibbeha Panola Pearl River Perry Pike Pontotoc Prentiss Quitman Rankin Scott Sharkey Simpson Smith Stone Sunflower Tallahatchie Tate Tippah Tishomingo Tunica Union Walthall Warren Washington Wayne Webster Wilkinson Winston Yalobusha Yazoo

State of Mississippi
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Magnolia State; The Hospitality State
Motto(s): Virtute et armis
Official language(s)	English
Demonym	Mississippian
Capital (and largest city)	Jackson
Area	Ranked 32nd in the U.S.
- Total	48,430 sq mi (125,443 km2)
- Width	170 miles (275 km)
- Length	340 miles (545 km)
- % water	3%
- Latitude	30° 12′ N to 35° N
- Longitude	88° 06′ W to 91° 39′ W
Population	Ranked 31st in the U.S.
- Total	2,978,512 (2011 est)[1]
- Density	63.5/sq mi  (24.5/km2) Ranked 32nd in the U.S.
- Median household income	$36,338[2] (50th)
Elevation
- Highest point	Woodall Mountain[3][4][5] 807 ft (246.0 m)
- Mean	300 ft  (90 m)
- Lowest point	Gulf of Mexico[4] sea level
Before statehood	Mississippi Territory
Admission to Union	December 10, 1817 (20th)
Governor	Phil Bryant (R)
Lieutenant Governor	Tate Reeves (R)
Legislature	Mississippi Legislature
- Upper house	State Senate
- Lower house	House of Representatives
U.S. Senators	Thad Cochran (R) Roger Wicker (R)
U.S. House delegation	3 Republicans, 1 Democrat (list)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Abbreviations	MS Miss. US-MS
Website	www.mississippi.gov

Mississippi (ⁱ/ˌmɪsɨˈsɪpi/) is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi ("Great River"). Mississippi is the 32nd most extensive and the 31st most populous of the 50 United States. The state is heavily forested outside of the Mississippi Delta area, which was cleared for cotton cultivation in the 19th century. Today, its catfish aquaculture farms produce the majority of farm-raised catfish consumed in the United States.^[6] The state symbol is the magnolia grandiflora tree.

Geography[link]

Mississippi State Map

Bottomland hardwood swamp near Ashland, Mississippi.

Mississippi is bordered on the north by Tennessee, on the east by Alabama, on the south by Louisiana and a narrow coast on the Gulf of Mexico and on the west, across the Mississippi River, by Louisiana and Arkansas.

In addition to its namesake, major rivers in Mississippi include the Big Black River, the Pearl River, the Yazoo River, the Pascagoula River, and the Tombigbee River. Major lakes include Ross Barnett Reservoir, Arkabutla Lake, Sardis Lake and Grenada Lake. The largest lake in Mississippi is Grenada Lake.

The state of Mississippi is entirely composed of lowlands, the highest point being Woodall Mountain, in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains, 806 feet (246 m) above sea level. The lowest point is sea level at the Gulf coast. The mean elevation in the state is 300 feet (91 m) above sea level.

Most of Mississippi is part of the East Gulf Coastal Plain. The Coastal Plain is generally composed of low hills, such as the Pine Hills in the south and the North Central Hills. The Pontotoc Ridge and the Fall Line Hills in the northeast have somewhat higher elevations. Yellow-brown loess soil is found in the western parts of the state. The northeast is a region of fertile black earth that extends into the Alabama Black Belt.

The coastline includes large bays at Bay St. Louis, Biloxi and Pascagoula. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico proper by the shallow Mississippi Sound, which is partially sheltered by Petit Bois Island, Horn Island, East and West Ship Islands, Deer Island, Round Island and Cat Island.

The northwest remainder of the state consists of the Mississippi Delta, a section of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. The plain is narrow in the south and widens north of Vicksburg. The region has rich soil, partly made up of silt which had been regularly deposited by the floodwaters of the Mississippi River.

Areas under the management of the National Park Service include:^[7]

• Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site near Baldwyn
• Gulf Islands National Seashore
• Natchez National Historical Park in Natchez
• Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail in Tupelo
• Natchez Trace Parkway
• Tupelo National Battlefield in Tupelo
• Vicksburg National Military Park and Cemetery in Vicksburg

Major cities and towns[link]

Meridian

Map with all counties and many cities and towns labeled.

Mississippi City Population Rankings of at least 50,000 (United States Census Bureau as of 2010):^[8]

1. Jackson (173,514)
2. Gulfport (67,793)
3. Hattiesburg (51,993)

Mississippi City Population Rankings of at least 20,000 but fewer than 50,000 (United States Census Bureau as of 2010):^[8]

Mississippi City Population Rankings of at least 10,000 but fewer than 20,000 (United States Census Bureau as of 2010):^[8]

(See: Lists of cities, towns and villages, census-designated places, metropolitan areas, micropolitan areas, and counties in Mississippi)

Climate[link]

Mississippi has a humid subtropical climate with long summers and short, mild winters. Temperatures average about 95°F (about 35°C) in July and about 48 °F (about 9 °C) in January. The temperature varies little statewide in the summer; however, in winter, the region near Mississippi Sound is significantly warmer than the inland portion of the state. The recorded temperature in Mississippi has ranged from −19 °F (−28.3 °C), in 1966, at Corinth in the northeast, to 115 °F (46.1 °C), in 1930, at Holly Springs in the north. Heavy snowfall is possible across the state, such as during the New Year's Eve 1963 snowstorm. Yearly precipitation generally increases from north to south, with the regions closer to the Gulf being the most humid. Thus, Clarksdale, in the northwest, gets about 50 inches (about 1,270 mm) of precipitation annually and Biloxi, in the south, about 61 inches (about 1,550 mm). Small amounts of snow fall in northern and central Mississippi, although snow is occasional in the southern part of the state.

The late summer and fall is the seasonal period of risk for hurricanes moving inland from the Gulf of Mexico, especially in the southern part of the state. Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed 238 people in the state, are the most devastating hurricanes to hit the state, both causing nearly total storm surge damage around Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. As in the rest of the Deep South, thunderstorms are common in Mississippi, especially in the southern part of the state. On average, Mississippi has around 27 tornadoes annually; the northern part of the state has more tornadoes earlier in the year and the southern part a higher frequency later in the year. Two of the five deadliest tornadoes in US history have occurred in the state. These storms struck Natchez, in southwest Mississippi (see The Great Natchez Tornado) and Tupelo, in the northeast corner of the state. About seven F5 tornadoes have been recorded in the state.

Ecology[link]

The Mississippi state sign located on Interstate 20.

Mississippi is heavily forested, with over half of the state's area covered by wild trees, including mostly pine, as well as cottonwood, elm, hickory, oak, pecan, sweetgum and tupelo.

Ecological problems[link]

Flooding[link]

Due to seasonal flooding, possible from December to June, the Mississippi River created a fertile floodplain in the Mississippi Delta, including tributaries. Slaves built levees along the Mississippi River to control flooding. They built on top of the natural levees that formed from dirt deposited after the river flooded. As cultivation of cotton increased in the Delta, planters hired Irish laborers, who immigrated in high numbers in the 1840s, to ditch and drain their land.

The state took over levee building from 1858 to 1861, accomplishing it through contractors and hired labor. In those years, planters considered their slaves too valuable to hire out for such dangerous work. Contractors hired gangs of Irish immigrant laborers to build levees and sometimes clear land. Many of the Irish were relatively recent immigrants from the famine years who were struggling to get established.^[9] Before the American Civil War, the earthwork levees averaged six feet in height, although in some areas they reached twenty feet.

Flooding has been an integral part of Mississippi history, but clearing of the land for cultivation and to supply fuel for steamboats took away the absorption of trees and undergrowth. After the Civil War, major floods swept down the valley in 1865, 1867, 1874 and 1882. Such floods regularly overwhelmed levees damaged by Confederate and Union fighting during the war, as well as those constructed after the war.^[10] In 1877, the Mississippi Levee District was created for southern counties. In 1879, the United States Congress created the Mississippi River Commission, whose responsibilities included aiding state levee boards in the construction of levees. Both white and black transient workers built the levees in the late 19th century. By 1882, levees averaged seven feet in height, but many in the southern Delta were severely tested by the flood that year.^[10] After the 1882 flood, the levee system was expanded. In 1884, the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee District was established to oversee levee construction and maintenance in the northern Delta counties; also included were some counties in Arkansas.^[11]

Flooding overwhelmed northwestern Mississippi in 1912–1913, causing heavy damage to the levee districts. Regional losses and the Mississippi River Levee Association's lobbying for a flood control bill helped gain passage of national bills in 1917 and 1923 to provide federal matching funds for local levee districts, on a scale of 2:1. Although US participation in World War I interrupted funding of levees, the second round of funding helped raise the average height of levees in the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta to 22 feet (6.7 m) in the 1920s.^[12] Scientists now understand the levees have increased flooding, and the region was severely damaged due to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. There were losses of millions of dollars in property, stock and crops. The most damage occurred in the lower Delta, including Washington and Bolivar counties.^[13]

Even as scientific knowledge about the Mississippi River has grown, upstream development and the consequences of the levees have caused more severe flooding in some years. Scientists now understand that the widespread clearing of land and building of the levees have changed the nature of the river by removing the natural protection of wetlands and forest cover and strengthening the current. The state and federal governments have been struggling for the best approaches to restore some natural habitats in order to best interact with the original riverine ecology.

History[link]

Mississippi State symbols
The Flag of Mississippi.
The Seal of Mississippi.
Animate insignia
Bird(s)	Mockingbird (1944) Wood Duck (1974)
Butterfly	Spicebush Swallowtail (1991)
Fish	Largemouth bass (1974)
Flower(s)	Magnolia (1952) Coreopsis (Tickseed) (1991)
Insect	Honey bee (1980)
Mammal(s)	White-tailed deer (1974) Red Fox (1997) Bottlenose dolphin (1974)
Reptile	American Alligator (2005)
Tree	Magnolia (1938)
Inanimate insignia
Beverage	Milk (1984)
Dance	American folk dance (1995)
Fossil	Prehistoric whale (1981)
Rock	Petrified wood (1976)
Shell	Oyster (1974)
Slogan(s)	Virtute et armis
Soil	Natchez silt loam (2003)
Song(s)	"Go, Mississippi" (1962)
Toy	Teddy bear (2003)
Other	Grand Opera House of Meridian (1993) Tupelo Auto Museum (1972) Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum (1972)
Route marker(s)
State Quarter
Released in 2002
Lists of United States state insignia