Historic Grand Hotels on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

In 1870, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad was constructed through the southernmost section of Harrison County, Mississippi, connecting New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama.^[1] A northern transportation route into south Mississippi was provided by the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad at the turn of the 20th century.^[2] These railroads provided an inexpensive means for moving passengers as well as goods, and opened south Mississippi to both industrial and recreational development.^[3] Rapidly progressing lumber and seafood industries transformed the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the 1920s, and people arrived from throughout the United States to take advantage of the economic boom.^[3] Northern tourists were attracted to the Mississippi Gulf Coast because of mild winters and cool sea breezes in summer, before the introduction of air conditioning. Besides the weather, other tourist attractions included seafood restaurants, swimming, golf, schooner races, sailing to offshore islands, and recreational fishing. During this period of economic expansion, grand hotels were constructed along the Mississippi Gulf Coast to accommodate businessmen, tourists, and transient workers. Most of these grand hotels no longer exist; and of the two structures that were still standing after the first decade of the 21st century, neither served as a lodging establishment. Together, these grand hotels represented an important era in the history of the Mississippi Gulf Coast throughout the 20th century.