Bay St. Louis — The Creative Class Moved In After the Storm

The 28-foot storm surge from Hurricane Katrina came ashore at high tide on August 29, 2005, just west of Bay St. Louis, creating a storm tide more than 30 feet high. The Bay St. Louis Bridge on US Highway 90 came down in sections. The underground utility infrastructure was destroyed. Insurance companies wrote off storefronts up and down the walkable grid that starts at Main and Beach. Then artists, musicians, and small-business owners moved in. The town's identity flipped from retirement community to creative enclave in a single post-Katrina decade. Before Katrina: quiet beach town with old money, old oaks, and NASA down the road. After: Second Saturday art walks year-round, a new Bay St. Louis Bridge with a pedestrian walkway featuring works by local artists, and a federally funded utility rebuild that made the comeback structurally possible. The French were the first European settlers in 1699. They imported enslaved people to work plantations. A Creole population developed — people of color as well as whites with significant French ancestry. Catholic families, some descendant from both African and French ancestors of the colonial era, remain. Roman Catholic schools still draw area students. When Amtrak's Mardi Gras Service launched in 2025, Bay St. Louis became the first stop from New Orleans — 90 minutes by train. The walkable downtown is the reason to go. Start at Main and Beach. The population was 9,284 at the 2020 census.