Old Bay St. Louis Historic District

Four historic districts stood here when the National Park Service certified them in 1980. After Hurricane Katrina rearranged the foundations on August 29, 2005, FEMA consolidated all four into one expanded boundary — 504 acres, 939 resources, a single district that acknowledges what survives and what doesn't. Around 30% of the Beach Boulevard buildings were destroyed. Many more had already gone in Hurricane Camille in 1969. What remains dates mostly between 1860 and 1960: Central-passage houses, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Spanish Revival, Craftsman. The live oaks that shade Main Street survived both storms. Some are over 200 years old. The art colony was unplanned. Galleries and studios filled storefronts that insurance companies had written off. Second Saturday art walks now draw visitors from New Orleans, 60 miles east. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 8, 2010. You'll find Cedar Rest Cemetery, which dates to 1860, and Main Street United Methodist Church, built around 1895. The Hancock Bank Building and the Bay St. Louis Ice, Light & Bottling Works Building both date to 1900. The A&G Theater opened in 1927. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot was built in 1929. Walkable downtown, free street parking. Start at the corner of Main and Beach — the galleries and cafes radiate from there. Multiple travel publications have named this one of America's Coolest Small Towns since the post-Katrina rebuild, which is another way of saying people came back and made something.