In 1870, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad was constructed through the southernmost section of Harrison County, Mississippi, connecting New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A northern transportation route into south Mississippi was provided by the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad at the turn of the 20th century. These railroads provided an inexpensive means for moving passengers as well as goods, and opened south Mississippi to both industrial and recreational development. Rapidly progressing lumber and seafood industries transformed the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the 1920s, and people arrived from throughout the United States to take advantage of the economic boom. Northern tourists were attracted to the Mississippi Gulf Coast because of mild winters and cool sea breezes in summer, before the introduction of air conditioning. Besides the weather, other tourist attractions included seafood restaurants, swimming, golf, schooner races, sailing to offshore islands, and recreational fishing. During this period of economic expansion, grand hotels were constructed along the Mississippi Gulf Coast to accommodate businessmen, tourists, and transient workers. Most of these grand hotels no longer exist; and of the two structures that were still standing after the first decade of the 21st century, neither served as a lodging establishment. Together, these grand hotels represented an important era in the history of the Mississippi Gulf Coast throughout the 20th century.
Great Southern Hotel (Gulfport)
Built in 1902–03 by entrepreneur Joseph T. Jones and designed by Mississippi Gulf Coast native and New Orleans-based architect Thomas Sully, the Great Southern Hotel had unheard of luxuries for the time—telephones in every guest room, hot and cold running water, and a bath for every two rooms. The hotel was situated within a few hundred yards (meters) of the Mississippi Sound. It was a 3-story frame building of wood construction with 250 guest rooms. The hotel had its own artesian water well, independent sewerage system, and an independent power plant for steam heat and electricity. Guest amenities included a billiard room, tennis court, horse-and-buggy rental, and an in-house orchestra. In 1908, the Jones family funded construction of the Great Southern Golf and Country Club to attract more guests to their hotel. The grand hotel was crippled by economics of the Great Depression but held on through the 1940s. During construction of U.S. Route 90 in 1951, the Great Southern Hotel was demolished.
White House Hotel (Biloxi)
The White House Hotel began as a rooming house in the large home of Mississippi attorney and circuit court judge Walter White. Between 1900 and 1930, it was White's wife who transformed neighborhood mansions, connected by pillared porches and renovations, into what would become the White House Hotel. James Love, Jr., owner of Biloxi's Buena Vista Hotel, acquired the White House property in 1940, modernized the buildings, and added a swimming pool. Business thrived until 1971, when the Love family sold the hotel, and it began a slow decline. The hotel passed through a succession of owners, and in 1988, bankruptcy was declared. The hotel was boarded up and abandoned. In 1989, the son of James Love bought the hotel with plans to return it to its former glory, but did not begin restoration until 10 years after he acquired the property. Renovation efforts stopped when financing fell through after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. and subsequently by devastation to the Mississippi Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina, and harsh economic times from the Great Recession. In May 2012, the hotel was added to Biloxi's list of blighted properties, and the owner was given the choice of demolishing the structure, renovating it to meet city codes, or selling it to a developer. In April 2013, the City of Biloxi announced that the White House Hotel had been sold to a Mississippi developer. Although closed for 30 years, the hotel was completely renovated and reopened for business on August 1, 2014.
Buena Vista Hotel (Biloxi)