This post has a little bit of everything in it: the city’s famous lighthouse, the white sand beach, Keesler Air Force Base campground, naval shipbuilding, Jimmy Buffet, and a connection to Frank Lloyd Wright. Some of these visits took us east toward the Alabama state line and then back again over a couple of days. You may think that we’ve seen everything that there is to see in Biloxi, but there’s more to see if we come back or if you visit.
Biloxi has always been a vacation destination since it’s on the Mississippi Gulf.
It had been maintained by female keepers for more years than any other lighthouse in the United States.
Biloxi features 26 miles of man-made white-sand beaches along the Mississippi Sound, offering waters ideal for swimming, fishing, and boating. It reminded us of the beaches around Destin, Florida.
The sand is clean, and the water is very shallow so you can walk out into the water a hundred yards or more and still be in waist-high water.
I searched out where Biloxi gets it white sand and here’s what AI had to say: “Biloxi’s white sand beaches are largely man-made, created and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through dredging operations in the Mississippi Sound. Starting around 1951, this white sand was dredged from offshore, creating what is known as the world’s largest man-made beach to protect the seawall and boost tourism.”
“The beach is consistently maintained and replenished by the Army Corps of Engineers to keep it white and sandy. While some Gulf Coast sand is quartz, the sand used in Biloxi is specifically dredged, cleaned, and replenished.” What a lot of work the Corps of Engineers regularly has to do for the Gulf beaches.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005
Here’s a perspective of Biloxi 10 years after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city from a blog post I found:
“While most people associate Hurricane Katrina with the devastation in New Orleans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast succumbed to a direct hit. As the hurricane roared up the mouth of the Mississippi River, Katrina unleashed her most forceful winds––up to 175 miles per hour. In Biloxi, the storm surge rose 27 feet where it lingered there for eight full hours, flooding and uprooting everything within 12 miles inland. Ninety percent of the structures along the beachfront were leveled.”
Today all the homes along the road facing the Gulf are built high off the ground.
next home base
After leaving the Seabee base because all of the spots were reserved (most of them for the winter months), we moved to Keesler Air Force Base that’s also in town.
The RV campground associated with the base was actually off base. The first night we had to stay in an overflow spot until we could settle into our new “home.”
One of the best parts of staying on or near a military base is that we get to hear the specific bugle calls (over a loud speaker) to mark the day: Reveille (usually 6:30–8:00) signals the start of the duty day and flag-raising, while Retreat (usually 5:00 p.m.) signals the end of the day and flag-lowering, often followed by To the Colors or the National Anthem.
Every trip we take provides us with challenges that we didn’t expect, either a problem with the RV, the truck, or with us. On this trip our microwave (by Barney’s head) decided to die, so we had to buy a new one at Best Buy. Hopefully the company that built our RV will be able to provide us with a replacement that fits perfectly into the space—even though our RV is 8 years old—and we can find a good home for this new, inexpensive microwave.
building ships for the Navy
One night early in our stay in Biloxi we watched Bret Baier interview the Secretary of the Navy at the shipyards in Pascagoula; Barney said it was fairly close by east of us along the Gulf. We figured we wouldn’t be able to get close to any of the Navy’s boats, but it sure would be fun trying to see what it’s all about. So off we went.
Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, originally established in 1938, and now part of HII (a defense provider). It is a long-time producer of ships for the United States Navy, and, as of 2023, is the largest private employer in Mississippi.
building large naval ships to Jimmy Buffett’s hometown
Of course Barney knew that Jimmy Buffett had been born in Pascagoula; another reason to go to this town. Somehow he found the address for Jimmy’s boyhood home, so we found it after seeing the shipyards.
He was born in December 1946 and spent his early years here before moving to Mobile. After Hurricane Katrina he made significant contributions toward refurbishing the Pascagoula City Library (I wonder if he spent some of his childhood at the library.)
The sign reminds us that he’ll always be “Son of a Son of a Sailor” and a proud son of Pascagoula. Many of his followers known as Parrot Heads live locally.
Mississippi’s connection with Frank Lloyd Wright
On another day we drove to the house we’ll be looking at that was designed in 1890 by Louis Sullivan, a Chicago architect known as the “Father of the Skyscraper.” He came to Chicago from Boston in 1871 after the Great Chicago Fire to join in the rebuilding effort. Frank Lloyd Wright was a young draftsman who was being trained by Sullivan.
Louis Sullivan also designed nearly 60 residences in Chicago during the 1880s and 90s, focusing on modern, geometric forms. His most famous residential work is the Charnley-Perskey House built between 1891-1892 that he designed with assistance from Frank Lloyd Wright. It now serves as the headquarters of the Society of Architectural Historians.
Sullivan worked with Wright for a number of years and was his mentor, until he learned that Wright started searching out his own residential clients in Chicago (probably on the weekends) and using Sullivan’s new way of designing that he started doing with the home we’ll be seeing.
He fired Wright, who then had to go out on his own and start his Prairie Style of homes that he designed primarily in the Chicago area between 1900 and 1920. He described them as, “the city man’s country home on the prairie.” They were radically different from the popular Victorian homes of the era and appealed to upper-middle-class homeowners during a time of urban unrest. If you’ve ever seen any of Frank Lloyd Wright’s homes, you’ll understand what he was designing.
the house Sullivan designed
In Chicago, downtown buildings had to be built up high with straight lines instead of wide because the land was so expensive. After years of building, Sullivan was exhausted and tired of the cold winters. He searched for a location where he could relax and be encouraged by the plants, trees, and views.
Eventually he found a location east of Biloxi along the coast, and decided to design and build a winter home for himself (no longer existing) and another one for his friends, James and Helen Charnley. Charnley later sold his home to Fred and Elizabeth Norwood in the summer of 1896. Both men were Chicago lumber magnates. (How they were able to get to this area from Chicago is described in the next post.)
The house is a ways from the street at the end of a long driveway.
According to this sign, the house’s strong horizontal lines, open floor plan, and lavish use of glass to “erase” barriers between the interior and exterior were precursors of ideas that revolutionized 20th century American architecture.
Sullivan famously declared that “form follows function,” meaning a building’s design should reflect its purpose. This view shaped the home that Sullivan designed and many of his future homes. He was also considered to be the “Father of Modernism.”
The strong horizontal orientation embraces and blends with the landscape, while the rooms flow into one another. The materials are simple and natural. The extensive use of glass erases the barriers between the interior and exterior spaces. These elements would all become hallmarks of modern architecture.
The Norwards named their property Bon Silene, meaning Good Salt Water or Good Salt Marsh. Norwood’s wife later planted roses of the same name in their garden.
This house was later described by Wright as “The first modern house in America,” but it completely burned down in 1897. Norwood had Sullivan immediately rebuild it according to the original floor plan, incorporating the rare curly pine into the walls and ceilings.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed the house for a second time. Numerous historic organizations were able to halt its demolition. In 2011, the property was purchased by the State of Mississippi and restoration of the house was completed in 2013.
Sullivan worked in groups of 3’s, so the entry way was made up of 3 doors.
The house’s brochure stated that the bay windows in the bedroom enhanced light, texture from the curly pine, and connection to nature.
The kitchen was plain and white-washed.
The kitchen was actually built as part of the house instead of being a separate building. This change is new for us as we’ve seen older homes.
fire!
The Norwoods purchased their property in June 1896, and a fire destroyed the house and most of the contents in March 1897. Mrs. Norwood and one of her daughters were the only ones in the home. Since the fire companies were more than a mile away in town, they weren’t able to arrive in time to put out the fire. The local village was too small to have its own fire company. The ladies and some neighbors fought the fire, and the women’s clothing and some furniture were the only things to be saved. The family did have insurance on the building and the furniture.
The local newspaper account suggested that the fire was caused by arson. The paper later stated that the Norwoods would rebuild a $5000 building ($195,000 today).
Sullivan and his friends really enjoyed their winter retreat homes for a number of years. Sullivan’s cottage was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. The only picture I could find of his cottage was on a Facebook post. You may want to click on this link if you’re interested in seeing in. The post was part of the Mansions of the Gilded Age.
We’re glad we were able to learn about them, especially since Frank Lloyd Wright learned from his mentor and incorporated his ideas into the homes he later built, creating a whole new style of design.
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