Gulf Coast
Biloxi, Mississippi
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Having lived in Biloxi, Mississippi for four years as a small child, Susan wanted to pay a visit since we were in the area. Thirty years is a long time, and the few remembrances are long gone, replaced with casinos and hotels. The only familiar landmark was the lighthouse in the middle of the highway. It was a nostalgic pilgrimage, though, that proved to be educational.

To learn more about the history of the area, and about the 1969 hurricane that devastated the area just before Susan's family moved west, we went to the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum. We discovered how important shrimping and oystering were to the settlers of this Gulf of Mexico town, and just how lucky the Oakes family were to have survived Camille, even though they didn't evacuate. (They weathered the storm in a sturdy church.)

We also went to the little Mardi Gras Museum housed in the historic Magnolia Hotel, where we learned the origins and evolution of this celebration and dressed up in parade costumes. (See our Mardi Gras page for more details.)

Though Biloxi has changed a lot in the three decades since Dad served there at Keesler Air Force Base, it's always fun to visit places remembered in the past to see how they have changed.
Pictures (Click to enlarge)

"People used to build ships using wood pegs instead of nails. When the ship went in the water, the pegs would expand and hold wood together tightly so the boat wouldn't fall apart."--Amanda

"Children had to work very early at the seafood factories and then go to school. When they were done, they had to do more work. Kids got a token for filling a bucket with shelled and cleaned shrimp. At the end of the day, they would trade the tokens for real money."--Amanda

"The workers were paid 10 cents for cleaning 15-16 pounds of shrimp filling a cup. It must have been hard, messy, smelly work. I'm glad I didn't live in the 1800s in Biloxi."--Harrison


"Hurricanes and tornadoes occur when low hot air meets high cold air. The hot air rises naturally and the cold air sinks, causing a spiral storm. Hurricane Camille took hundreds of lives and houses. It was rated a category 5 hurricane, the strongest in US history."--Harrison

"Some people didn't leave their home even after a warning, so they were killed by the hurricane. Some houses where blown away and never found again."--Amanda

1001 Questions Answered About Hurricanes, Tornadoes and Other Natural Air Disasters
by Barbara Tufty

The Magnolia Hotel, built in 1847, is the oldest hotel on the Gulf Coast. So when it was severely damaged by Hurricane Camille, citizens donated funds to restore it and move the historic building 100 feet to higher ground. It now houses the Mardi Gras Museum and offices of museum and Mardi Gras organizations.
Harrison and Amanda had fun dressing up in fun costumes at the Mardi Gras Museum.
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Jesse Willard Oakes - Electronics Technician, Father

Born to backwoods "hillbillies" in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina in a house without plumbing, my dad has come a long way. His childhood stories of running barefoot in the hills, reading the comics plastered on the ceiling as wall paper, eating corn bread and grits, and having a moon-shining father always fascinated me.

He left mountain living at 17, joining the Air Force, where he traveled the world and learned the electronics trade. While stationed in the desert of Wendover, Utah, he met and later married Patricia Nuffer. Their first year of marriage was spent apart, as he was sent to Labradore, Greenland. He was stationed in Italy when my older sister and I were born, giving us cool birth certificates and naturalization certificates. By the time he was transferred to Biloxi, he was nearing the end of his 20-year military career.

Though at one time he thought he would have no sons, Mom gave him four of them. Six children are a lot to feed, but Dad worked hard, usually self-employed in the electronics and television repair field and has always been a conscientious provider. He is the proud grandfather of five (and longing for many more), and now devotes much of his time to church service and genealogical research.

Trip Tips

Both the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum and the Mardi Gras Museum are inexpensive and fun for families. See the links below for more information.
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Amazon.comResources

Check out these resources from your local library, or click on these links to buy them online from Amazon.com. You'll get the same great price and help keep our pages on the web.

For Younger Readers

For Older Readers

The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane
by Joanna Cole, Bruce Degen (Illustrator)

The Hurricane Mystery (Boxcar Children (Paper), No 54)
by Gertrude Chandler Warner, Charles Tang (Illustrator)

 

Amazon.comFind more books about Biloxi or Hurricanes
Biloxi: 300 Years
by Val Hushey, Ph.D.
Head on with Hurricane Camille
by George Cory

One August Day
by Charlotte Morgan

Hurricane Camille was the strongest ever recorded in the US. Its power pushed all throughout the south, from the Gulf Coast up through Tennessee and into Virginia. This fictional novel is about people living away from the coast, but devastated by floods.


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