Looking Up in Biloxi Through the Years
Posted by Jane Shambra on Nov 14th 2024
Article originally written by Jane Shambra, a local Biloxi writer, for BNews Monthly, the monthly newsletter of the City of Biloxi. All images courtesy of the Local History and Genealogy Department / Biloxi Public Library / Harrison County Library System.
Biloxians and visitors have always looked up. In the years when Monsieur D’Iberville sailed along our shores, he and his crew were always looking up. In those days, their navigational techniques depended on the stars above to guide them along the right course. Sailors continued to look up, whether it was to adjust the sails on their ships, to watch out for weather issues in a distance, or maybe even to spot a rainbow.
There is an ancient rhyme that has been traced back across languages and cultures, for about 2,000 years:
Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.
Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.
What a great weather-predicting slogan!
A Tall Beacon
Years ago, Biloxi did not have the tall buildings it has today. Trying to locate a tall structure in the 1800s is quite a challenge.
Probably the tallest significant man-made building back in the day was observed as the Biloxi Lighthouse. Unobstructed from view and positioned at the water’s edge, this 1848 cast-iron structure is still in place! It is a Biloxi icon and is clearly visible from the south, east, and west. Older photos clearly show its height which is 61 feet tall. Our beloved lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Two, Three Stories Tall
In the second half of the 1800s, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company surveyed buildings within incorporated cities throughout the United States, thus producing what we recognize today as Google satellite maps. There is great detail recorded in these mapping products, including how many stories high a building was.
Biloxi’s first recognized Sanborn map appeared in 1893. The tallest buildings in that year appear to be merely two stories high. By 1905, Biloxi’s buildings were growing taller, and its “skyscrapers” then are seen to be Biloxi’s old City Hall on Main and Howard Avenue and Biloxi’s current City Hall building (then a courthouse).
In 1912, three stories-high structures that were recognized was the Central High School and the old Elks Lodge.
Hotels on the Rise
In the 1920s, Biloxi experienced the spirit of the Roaring Twenties, exhibiting prosperity, bootlegging, and the surge of Jazz music. A hotel building boom went underway in Biloxi during that time and included memorable structures such as the The Tivoli Hotel (6 stories); The Edgewater Gulf Hotel (10 stories); The Buena Vista Hotel (5 stories); The Hotel Avelez (5 stories); and The Broadwater Beach Hotel (8 stories).
Living It Up
In the 1960s, Biloxi’s highway buildings began to grow noticeably taller, especially along Biloxi’s Central Beach Boulevard, also known as Highway 90 and Beach Boulevard.
The Gulf Towers Luxury Apartments was constructed in the early 1960s and reached 10 floors. It was originally advertised as an apartment building with options for one, two, or efficiency studio apartments. Currently, we recognize it as the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel.
Right down the street, the Santa Maria del Mar Apartments towers at 13 floors was constructed in 1969-71. In 1971, two years after Hurricane Camille, it welcomed its first tenants to the then senior citizens retirement complex. Today Hotel Legends occupies this modern repurposed musically themed hotel.
Both the prior-named Gulf Towers and Santa Maria buildings sustained both water and wind damage from Hurricane Katrina; but, proved to be outstanding survivors.
Betting Up
Legalized gambling didn’t enter Biloxi’s modern world until the early 1990s. After voting and permissions were in place, another building boom in Biloxi entered a new phase, one that it had never seen before.
The first gambling venues arrived on paddleboats to offer games of chance and eatery options. Then, accompanying hotels began to grow from Biloxi’s surface, just like in the story of “Jack and the Beanstalk."
Within just a few years, the two tallest skyscrapers in the State of Mississippi opened for business: the IP Casino Resort Spa (Imperial Palace Casino), built between 1995 – 98 and reached its peak at 32 floors, and the Beau Rivage Casino, constructed from 1995 – 98 at 32 floors, as well.
Hurricane Katrina clobbered both structures, but repairs quickly went underway, boasting these two Biloxi casinos as the two tallest buildings in the state of Mississippi, true SKYSCRAPERS.
Branching Up
As young kids, we often looked up at a tree when we heard the sweet sounds of bird voices and sometimes climbed up a tree to view the world from above. In the yard of old historic Tullis-Toledano property on U.S. 90, there was once a famous old tree that towered above us all. It had a huge circumference and was draped with Spanish moss. Throughout historic journals, this tree has had several names: the Crawford Tree; the Counselor Oak; and the Garner-Tullis Oak. That massive tree had an amazing background. Legend has it that Coastal Native American Tribes (including the Biloxi, Pascagoula, and Choctaw) had significant meetings under its branches. Supposedly, it was also the shaded area where "sea weary French voyageurs" chose to open and roast oysters.
An even more intriguing legend is the story about pirate Jean Lafitte's treasure, supposedly buried near its roots. Sadly, we can no longer loop up this fascinating Oak Tree, since it was a victim of Hurricane Katrina.
Father of Skyscrapers
Right next to us in neighboring Ocean Springs, the Father of Skyscrapers Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) chose his summer home very near the water's edge where he could appreciate our dear Deer Island and the waters of the Biloxi Back Bay. Mr. Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright were friends and work companions. Perhaps his successful skyscraping designs were influenced by his view of beautiful Biloxi... Back in the Day.
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