Gulfport — The Port City That Built Itself Twice

William H. Hardy founded Gulfport in 1887 as a railroad terminus, went bankrupt in 1893, and the town became a ghost town. Philadelphia oil tycoon Joseph T. Jones bought the company and funded the railroad, the harbor, and the channel dredging. The city incorporated in 1898. By 1906, Gulfport was the largest lumber export city in the United States, shipping over 293 million feet of lumber. The depletion of the yellow pine ended that run. In 1917, the city planned to hold the Mississippi Centennial Exposition. When the U.S. entered World War I, the building complex was transferred to the U.S. Navy as a training center. The site eventually became a Veterans Administration Hospital, which operated until 2005. During World War II, Camp Hollyday was established in 1942 and became the home base for the Naval Construction Battalion Center — the Seabees trained here, and the base is still operational. On August 17, 1969, Hurricane Camille hit with storm surge that reached 21 feet. The port was nearly completely destroyed. In 1993, the city opened its first two casinos. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit with wind speeds of at least 100 miles per hour and storm surge of at least 19 feet. 9,571 houses were damaged or destroyed. The city received over $300 million in federal aid for infrastructure and essential services. In 2020, on the fifteenth anniversary of Katrina, the Mississippi Aquarium opened, replacing a dolphin facility the hurricane had destroyed. On August 18, 2025, Amtrak service returned with the Mardi Gras Service, connecting Gulfport to cities along the Gulf Coast. The Port of Gulfport is one of the busiest ports in the Gulf of Mexico. The city has a population of 72,926, making it the second-most populous in Mississippi. Gulfport was built to work, and it still does.