Gulfport ( ) is a port city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States, and its co-county seat. It had a population of 72,926 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Mississippi after Jackson. The Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area had a population of 416,259. Gulfport lies along the Gulf Coast of the United States in southern Mississippi, taking its name from its port on the Gulf Coast on the Mississippi Sound.
Gulfport emerged from two earlier settlements, Mississippi City and Handsboro. Founded in 1887 by William H. Hardy as a terminus for the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad, the city was further developed by Philadelphia oil tycoon Joseph T. Jones, who funded the railroad, harbor, and channel dredging. The city was officially incorporated in 1898. By the early 20th century, Gulfport had become the largest lumber export city in the United States, though this faded with the depletion of Mississippi's Piney Woods. The city transitioned into tourism through its white beaches, grand hotels, and significant casino gaming operations.
The largest sectors of Gulfport's economy include military operations, tourism, healthcare, and maritime commerce. The city is home to the Naval Construction Battalion Center, Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center, and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. The Port of Gulfport serves as one of the busiest ports in the Gulf of Mexico, while Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport provides commercial air service to the region. Despite significant impacts from Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the city has consistently rebuilt and expanded its infrastructure and facilities.
History Two villages predated the founding of Gulfport: Mississippi City, located along the gulf, and Handsboro, founded in the 1800s along the northern bayous. Mississippi City was born out of the Mississippi City Company that was formed in 1837 to build a town to serve as the terminus for the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad. The purpose of the railroad was to transfer yellow pine for ship-based trade. While a depression led to the abandonment of the railroad, the town was nevertheless built and later made the county seat upon the creation of Harrison County in 1841.
The Gulf and Ship Island Railroad company was later reorganized and selected William H. Hardy as its president. Desiring to connect the railroad from the town of Hattiesburg, which he founded, to the coast, he steered away from Mississippi City because of its lack of proximity to deep water. He selected the site of Gulfport in 1887, and the town was founded that year. Because of the cost of the project, Hardy went bankrupt in 1893, and the town became a ghost town. However, Philadelphia oil tycoon Joseph T. Jones purchased the company. Jones funded not only the railroad, but much of the city, the harbor, and the dredging of the channel. In 1888, the city was given its name from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger editor, R. H. Henry after a conversation between him and Hardy. On July 28, 1898, the city was incorporated. In 1902, Harrison County voted to move the county seat to Gulfport.In 1900, the railroad was completed, and in 1902 the Port of Gulfport was completed. On April 28, 1904, the Treasury Department changed the port of entry for the district of the Pearl River from Shieldsboro to Gulfport. At the time, the Gulfport port had greater ease of access than comparable ports like Mobile or New Orleans. The port soon made Gulfport the largest lumber export city in the United States, shipping over 293 million feet of lumber in 1906; however, the depletion of the yellow pine ended this status in the early 20th century.
At the turn of the century, Gulfport began to experience notable growth: by 1900, the population hit 1,000, and by 1910, over 6,000. As a result, the fire department and sanitation services were established, and by 1903, the county courthouse was built. The Louisville and Nashville railroad line also began serving the city around this time at Gulfport Station (then the Union Depot). In 1910, the U.S. Post Office and Customhouse was built, and in March 1916, the construction of a Carnegie Library was announced by the mayor. Other impressive developments include the building of the Great Southern Hotel, the construction of an electric plant (later managed by Mississippi Power), and a streetcar line.
In 1917, the city was set to hold the Mississippi Centennial Exposition, but upon the U.S. entering World War I, the plans were abandoned. The building complex created for the exposition was transferred to the U.S. Navy as a training center. The lands were eventually transitioned into a Veterans Administration Hospital, which operated until 2005. The 1920s saw a construction boom with buildings like the Hotel Markham and the Bank of Gulfport being completed. By the 1930s, the population had increased to over 12,000, with growth continuing into the 1940s.
During World War II, two military bases were built in Gulfport. Camp Hollyday, established in 1942, would later become the home base for the Naval Construction Battalion Center. Also in 1942, the U.S. Army Air Corps constructed a training base for heavy bomber crews known as Gulfport Army Airfield. After the war, the base was declared excess, and the city purchased most of the facilities for a new Gulfport Municipal Airport (the first airport was dedicated in 1930). In 1954, the U.S. Air Force resumed use of the facilities they still owned as Gulfport Air Force Base to train Air National Guard units. This lasted until 1958, when the facilities were transferred to the Mississippi Air National Guard as the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center.
By 1950, the population had grown to around 22,000 and by 1960, 30,000. Around the time of the Biloxi wade-ins, Gulfport had its own protest wade-in in 1960. In 1965, the city annexed the original Mississippi City and Handsboro area. On August 17, 1969, Gulfport and the Mississippi Gulf Coast were hit by Hurricane Camille, the second-strongest hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. in recorded history. The most heavily damaged part of Gulfport was the waterfront areas: storm waters in Gulfport reached 21 feet, and the port of Gulfport was nearly completely destroyed. Otherwise, the downtown and inland areas received small amounts of structural damage.
In 1976, the Armed Forces Retirement Home relocated from Philadelphia to Gulfport on the land of the former Gulf Coast Military Academy. The facility was destroyed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina but rebuilt as a much larger facility in 2010. A new county courthouse was built in 1977. In 1993, the city opened its first two casinos, and later that year in December, the city annexed north of Gulfport. This annexed land included Turkey Creek, a historic community founded by emancipated slaves before the founding of Gulfport. In 2003, the Dan M. Russell Jr. United States Courthouse was completed.
On August 29, 2005, Gulfport was hit by the strong eastern side of Hurricane Katrina with wind speeds of at least and storm surge of at least . 9,571 houses were damaged or destroyed, and the town was left with a $3 million deficit. The city received over $300 million in federal aid which it used to repair infrastructure and facilities for essential services. In 2020, on the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi Aquarium opened, replacing a dolphin-oriented facility destroyed by the hurricane.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total area of , of which is land and (11.40%) is water.
The Gulfport Formation in Harrison County is described as barrier ridge composed of white, medium- to fine-grained sand, yellow-orange near surface. Thickness ranges from 5.0 to 9.5 m. It overlies Biloxi Formation. Age is late Pleistocene.
Gulfport Formation is limited to a 1- to 3-km-wide discontinuous barrier ridge belt that borders the Gulf mainland shore. It commonly overlies Prairie Formation (alluvium) landward and Biloxi Formation (shelf deposits) near shore. The formation grades upward from poorly to moderately sorted shoreface sands to foreshore sand and dunes. The unit extends from Gulfport, MS, eastward to the mouth of the Ochlockonee River, Franklin County, Florida and was deposited during the Sangamonian.
Neighborhoods The city listed 39 official neighborhoods in 2000. These neighborhoods are sometimes subdivisions or accumulations of gradual home development. These include:
Lyman Orange Grove Biloxi River Lorraine The Reserve Pine Hills Bayou Bernard Industrial District Bayou View North The Island Fernwood Handsboro College Park Silver Ridge Great Southern Mississippi City Gooden East Park Bayou View South Magnolia Grove East Beach Broadmoor Soria City CBD State Port & Jones Park West Beach Gaston Point Fairgrounds Central Gulfport 25th Avenue Commercial Original Gulfport Mid-City Brickyard Bayou North Gulfport Industrial Center Turkey Creek North Gulfport CB Base Gulfport Heights Forest Heights Sports Super Complex
Climate Gulfport has a humid subtropical climate, which is strongly moderated by the Gulf of Mexico. Winters are short and generally mild; cold spells do occur, but seldom last long. Snow flurries are rare in the city, with no notable accumulation occurring most years. Summers are generally long, hot and humid, though the city's proximity to the Gulf prevents extreme summer highs, as seen farther inland. Gulfport is subject to extreme weather, most notably tropical storm activity through the Gulf of Mexico. The all-time record high for the city is , set on August 26, 2023, and the record coldest is on February 12, 1899. Climate records for the city date back to 1893; however, until 1998 records were stitched with neighboring Biloxi.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Gulfport city, Mississippi – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)43,33737,03834,38260.93%54.63%47.15%Black or African American alone (NH)23,69224,26628,28733.31%35.92%38.79%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)2842232930.25%0.24%0.4%Asian alone (NH)8721,1341,1471.53%1.95%1.57%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)62871140.05%0.05%0.16%Other race alone (NH)72692390.12%0.13%0.20%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)9941,4573,4491.14%1.50%4.86%Hispanic or Latino (any race)1,8143,5195,0152.11%5.50%6.88%Total71,12767,79372,926100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Gulfport had a population of 72,926. The median age was 37.4 years. 23.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.1 males age 18 and over.
99.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.7% lived in rural areas.
There were 28,865 households in Gulfport, of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 34.8% were married-couple households, 20.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 36.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Of the total households, 15,584 were family households.
There were 32,737 housing units, of which 11.8% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.6%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 35,356 48.5% Black or African American 28,508 39.1% American Indian and Alaska Native 383 0.5% Asian 1,183 1.6% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 119 0.2% Some other race 2,347 3.2% Two or more races 5,030 6.9%