Biloxi VA Medical Center Historic District

The federal government built the Biloxi VA Medical Center in 1932–33, one of the oldest Veterans Affairs campuses on the Gulf Coast. The timing placed it squarely in the Depression, on a coast that had long occupied the margins of Mississippi life — at statehood in 1817, the region held just 2.5% of the state's population. The Gulf Coast's situation along the water had always facilitated its ties to the rest of the world more easily than other parts of the state, and that accessibility shaped what grew there. The campus rose on Veterans Avenue adjacent to Keesler Air Force Base, which brought development to the region in the twentieth century. Together they anchored Biloxi's military identity. The historic district includes the original Colonial Revival hospital buildings and Biloxi National Cemetery — a campus that has served veterans continuously since the Depression. This stretch of coast had been "America's Riviera" in the early 1900s, a gambling and tourist alternative to Florida. It would later endure Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, both causing historic destruction. Through it all, the VA campus kept operating. The facility earned National Register listing. The cemetery is open dawn to dusk. The campus is accessible to the public.