Ship Island — Fort Massachusetts

Iberville charted Ship Island on February 10, 1699. Three days later, he reached the Mississippi Gulf Coast and built Fort Maurepas, the first capital of French Louisiana. The island had the only deep-water harbor between Mobile Bay and the Mississippi River — which made it a staging ground, not just for the French, but for every power that tried to hold the Gulf Coast. Spanish, British, Confederate, and Union flags all flew here. In 1812, Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane anchored fifty British warships and 10,000 soldiers between Ship Island and Cat Island before the Battle of New Orleans. From 1720 to 1724, this was the principal port of entry for French colonists bound for Louisiana. Some died on arrival. Their bodies were burned in a furnace. Fort Massachusetts, built from 1859 to 1866, is the landmark that survived. Construction started under U.S. oversight, but Confederates named the unfinished structure Fort Twiggs after General David E. Twiggs. On July 9, 1861, a twenty-minute cannon exchange between Confederates in the fort and the USS *Massachusetts* took place. In 1862, Union forces seized the abandoned fort and renamed it. It held Confederate prisoners of war and became a base for the Second Regiment Louisiana Native Guards, a unit of African-American soldiers led by Colonel Nathan W. Daniels. The fort was never fully completed — construction halted in 1866 — but the brick structure is intact enough to walk through. Hurricane Camille split the island in two in 1969. In early 2019, the Army Corps of Engineers completed a project rejoining them. The island is part of Gulf Islands National Seashore — no cars, no hotels, no shade. Ship Island Excursions, run by the Skrmetta family, operates the ferry from Gulfport, a 55-minute ride twelve miles offshore. The company celebrates 100 years of service in 2026. The Gulf-side beaches have turquoise water over white sand, the clearest swimming on the Mississippi coast. Bring water and sunscreen.