Gulfport Harbor — The Banana Port

Captain Joseph T. Jones founded Gulfport in the late 1880s for one purpose: to build a deep-water port at the terminus of the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad. The railroad, completed from Gulfport to Hattiesburg in 1896, aimed to use the deepwater harbor protected by Ship Island. By the early 1900s, Gulfport had become one of the largest banana import ports in the country, receiving fruit from Central America for distribution across the South. In 1903, the railroads began work on a union station at the southeast quadrant of their crossing. The red brick building was completed in 1904. In December 1924, the Illinois Central Railroad and the Gulf and Ship Island began operating through sleepers between Gulfport, Chicago, and Memphis. The Illinois Central acquired the Gulf and Ship Island in 1925. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad ran the Gulf Wind, Pan-American, and Humming Bird through the station; it also operated the southern leg of the Crescent and Piedmont Limited under contract to the Southern Railway. The harbor later handled lumber, military cargo during both world wars, and commercial shipping. Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, suspending Amtrak service east of New Orleans. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Harbor Square Historic District in 1985; Mississippi designated it a state landmark in 1986. After Katrina significantly affected the historic district, it was reconfigured as the Gulfport Harbor Square Commercial Historic District in 2011, with the station and an adjacent shelter as contributing properties. Amtrak service to Gulfport returned with the Mardi Gras Service on August 18, 2025. The building now serves as the Gulfport Centennial Museum. Gulfport is the only city on the Mississippi Gulf Coast built for commerce first, tourism second. The harbor is the reason the city exists.