The Mississippi Gulf Coast area was explored in 1699 by Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville who was sent by the King of France to claim this important coastal region. With a small troop, he sailed into Biloxi Bay and established Fort Maurepas and a small colony on the east shore that is now Ocean Springs.

Mississippi Gulf Coast, once home to the Biloxi Indians, then d'Iberville's French, changed hands many times over the years. Each new flag brought the infusion of a new culture.

Beauvoir, last home of Jefferson Davis, the first and only President of the Confederacy, is outstanding among the many antebellum and fine Victorian homes that grace the Coast. Here, Davis wrote his memoirs and spent his final years. The home, library and grounds are beautifully preserved.

Built prior to the Civil War but little used except as a Union prison, Fort Massachusetts stands guard off shore on West Ship Island, its cannons still ready to repel pirates or invaders. Now a part of the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Seashore, the fort may be toured on your own or with the assistance of park rangers. A delightful 70-minute ferry ride takes visitors to West Ship Island to enjoy the fort, surf-pounded beaches, surf fishing or serene exploring on this uninhabited island.