Page 50 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2023

THEN
story by Lynn Lofton and Kelsey Sunderman-Foster photos by Willis Vail from the Paul Jermyn Collection and courtesy of Historical Society of Gulfport, Detroit Publishing Co., Port of Gulfport, and Gulf Blue
Happy Birthday Gulfport! You look remarkable for a 125-year-old. There have been changes, improvements, and hurricane losses but the city is resilient, like its people. By way of celebrating the history of the city Where Your Ship Comes In, we have a few photos to commemorate the way things were along with recent photos of these sites.
The area of Gulfport was occupied for thousands of years by indigenous people before European settlers came. It was incorporated in 1898 after its founding by William Hardy
and Joseph T. Jones. Hardy was president of the Gulf & Ship Island Railroad that connected the inland lumber mills to the Coast. He was joined by Jones, who took over the railroad and dredged the harbor to open the shipping channel for a working seaport.
The second largest city in Mississippi, the 2020 census shows a population of 72,926 for Gulfport. The city is home to the State Port and the U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Seabees.
NOW
Gulf & Ship 3 Island RR
Office Building Then: Gulf & Ship Island Rail Road, 1903. Now: Gulf Blue, a collaborative blue tech innovation workspace.
Beach Boulevard
Port of Gulfport 2 Then: The Deepwater
Port of Gulfport, 1902. Now: Today, the
Then: East along board walk, 1903. Now: US 90, which spans 1,633 miles from Van Horn, Texas, to Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
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port facility.
Port of Gulfport encompasses a 300- acre deep-water port and a 116-acre inland
4 L&N R.R. Union Station
Then: Sailors wait to board outside the station.
Now: Union Station is now home to several businesses and the Gulfport Museum of History.
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