Page 126 - South Mississippi Living - October, 2023

LIVING HISTORY
HAPPENED
AS IT
Significant Moments When the World Had an Eye on the Gulf Coast
story by Cherie Ward
Robert Ingalls opened a World War I shipyard site in Pascagoula.
Throughout the decades, the Gulf Coast has experienced everything from natural disasters to historic milestones. And no matter how much time passes, certain events will forever remain solidified in South Mississippi’s history and the world’s memory.
Mississippi’s first black child entered a previously all-white school in Biloxi.
Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker claim they were abducted by aliens while fishing on the Pascagoula River.
Memorial Hospital was
built in Gulfport.
1943 1950
1961 1963 1969 1964 1965
Biloxi family practitioner and civil rights leader Dr. Gilbert Mason, Sr. challenged segregation laws by petitioning the county for unrestricted beach access.
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College admitted its first black students.
Famous Ocean Springs artist Walter Anderson died.
1975 1977 1973
1938
1953
1959
The Gulf Coast Research Lab opened in Ocean Springs.
Ed Barq, founder of a soft drink company in Biloxi in the 1890s, died and left behind a national root beer legacy.
The Coast’s first regional shopping center Edgewater Mall opened in Biloxi.
Interstate 10
in Harrison and
Hancock counties
was completed,
but the Jackson
County part was held up
for seven years because of environmental issues concerning Sandhill cranes.
Hancock County
was selected
as the site for
NASA’s largest
moon rocket
test facility at
what is now
Stennis
Space Hurricane Camille killed 132 Center. on the Coast, left about 40 missing, and
caused $6.8 billion in damage.
126 | October 2023 www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living