Gulfport (Mississippi)
Harrison County
28-29700
Gulfport is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, with 67 793 inhabitants (according to 2010 census ). Gulfport has a size of 166 km ², with 147 km ² of land and 19 km ² is water. The 29,559 buildings in the city were largely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, many residents were killed, about 15,000 jobs were lost. The rebuilding of the city and a casino was launched in 2006. The population in 2006 was estimated at 64 316; representing a decrease of 9.6 % compared to the year 2000. This assessment regarding the demographic decline set in the 2010 census as being correct out. Gulfport is also the county seat ( county seat ) of Harrison County.
History
William H. Hardy, engineer and railway builder, founded in 1887, the city of Gulfport ( = Gulf port) as a port city on the Gulf of Mexico and as the end of his planned railway line Gulf and Ship Iceland Railroad.
Joseph T. Jones presented after the railway line and the city finished.
In 1907, the port started operation, which has become an important commercial port.
On August 17, 1969 Gulfport had been severely damaged by Hurricane Camille.
Airport
In Gulfport, the Gulfport -Biloxi International Airport, which also supplies the city of Biloxi is located.
Gulfport and tourism by 2005
The key jobs, tourism is next to industrial firms in the city. Attractions for tourists are the fine sandy beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, the water park Marine Life Oceanarium with trained dolphins and sea lions, aquariums, and birds, the marina with the trips to Ship Iceland with the Fort Massachusetts and the casinos. International significance of the Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, a multi-day competition in various disciplines of sport fishing ( late June or early July).
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, a wind speed of 217 km / h and caused an up to 6.70 meter high tidal wave that flooded Gulfport and largely destroyed. The single-family homes were torn apart, the Multi-family homes uninhabitable.
Previously, the city had been evacuated. Many residents who had not left the city, have been drowned in the tidal wave in their own homes or carried away with the rubble of her house by the tsunami.
Because of the destruction of all the casinos, hotels and motels and industrial establishments in the city all jobs were lost. But the casinos in Gulfport procured the inhabitants before 14,000 jobs.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Mahmoud Abdul- Rauf (born 1969 ), basketball player
- Lem Barney ( b. 1945 ), American football player
- Brett Lorenzo Favre (born 1969 ), American football player
- Albinia Jones (1914-1989), blues and jazz singer
- Jelly Roll Morton (1889-1941), jazz musician
- Brittney Reese ( born 1986 ), athlete
- Harry M. Sneed ( b. 1940 ), software pioneer