Hancock County Courthouse

The courthouse has held the seat of Hancock County government since 1858. The current building dates to 1911 and stands after significant reconstruction following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Bay St. Louis sits at the western end of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, part of a region that entered statehood in 1817 as sparsely settled frontier. When Mississippi joined the Union, only 2.5% of the state's population lived along the coast. Hancock County was one of the original two counties in the region. The area remained culturally distinct, shaped by Mediterranean influences that arrived by water. According to Kenneth P'Pool, deputy historic preservation officer at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Gulf of Mexico "facilitated the region's ethnic diversity and maintained its ties to the rest of the world much more easily than was possible for other regions of Mississippi." The courthouse anchors the civic center of downtown Bay St. Louis. Across the street stands the Kate Lobrano House, built in 1896, which houses the Hancock County Historical Society. The society maintains the most comprehensive archive of Hancock County history in existence. If you're tracing family connections to the coast, this is where the records are.