HANCOCK COUNTY
Chapter XLV, pages 729-731
Hancock County is the westernmost of the
three gulf counties of the State and was originally established in the
territorial period, on December 14, 1812. Some of its territory went for
the formation and expansion of Pearl River County in 1890 and 1908, respectively.
The county now has an area of 469 square miles.
Hancock County was named in honor of John
Hancock, and has had a varied and romantic history. The coast region along
its southern border was first discovered by the Spaniards and later rediscovered
by La Salle and colonized by Iberville for the French. A part of the great
French Province of Louisiana for a time, by the treaty of Paris in 1763,
it became a British possession and was incorporated with the newly established
province of West Florida. It was not until early in the nineteenth century
that the settlements of the whites penetrated far into the interior of
the county from the coast, as all of southern Mississippi was up to that
time in the actual occupancy of the Indians. Under the treaties of Fort
Adams, December 17, 1801, and Mount Dexter, November 16, 1805, the Indians
relinquished to the United States all the southern portion of the present
State of Mississippi, and May 14, 1812, the district of Mobile, lying east
of Pearl River, West of the Perdido and south of the 31st degree of latitude,
was annexed to the Mississippi territory. A few months later, December
14, 1812, all that part of this region lying within the present limits
of Mississippi, was erected into the two large counties of Hancock and
Jackson. The original act defined the limits of Hancock as follows: "All
that tract of country lying south of the 31st degree of north latitude
and west of the line running due north from the middle of the Bay of Biloxi
to the 31st degree of north latitude and east of the Pearl River." February
5, 1841, that portion of Hancock lying east of the line between ranges
13 and 14 was embodied in the county of Harrison, and February 22, 1890,
that portion of the county lying north of the dividing line between townships
4 and 5, and extending from the middle of Pearl River east to the line
between ranges 13 and 14 west, was taken to form the new county of Pearl
River.
Among the early settlers of the county
prior to the year 1825, were John B. Lardasse, Chief Justice of the Quorum
in 1818; Noel Jourdan, Elisha Carver, Assessor and Collector (1818); Samuel
Slade, John Lott, George Sheriff, Alexander Frazar, Alex Williams, Louis
A. Caillaret, Solomon Ford, John Morgan, John Deal, William Stackhouse
and John S. Brush, Justices of the Peace; John P. Saucier, Chief Justice
of the Quorum (1820); Haman Hammond, James Toole, Elihu Carver, Sheriffs,
and George H. Nixon and Zebulon Pendleton, Presidents of the town of Pearlington.
The important gulf town of Bay St. Louis
is the county seat, and, with the exception of Biloxi and Gulfport, is
the most important city between New Orleans and Mobile. It is located in
the extreme southeastern part of the county on the line of the Louisville
& Nashville railroad, and contains a population of 3,000 inhabitants.
It is one of the favorite pleasure resorts of the people of New Orleans
and is one of the celebrated winter resorts for northern health and pleasure
seekers. It is also the center of a large coasting trade. It was originally
named Shieldsboro for Thos. Shields, a pioneer settler, but subsequently
was named for Louis XI of France, and given its prefix from its position
on the bay. Other thriving towns are Pearlington, a lumber center in the
southwestern part of the county, on Pearl River, on the Louisville &
Nashville, and Waveland, in the southern portion. The principal streams
in the county are the Pearl River, which washes its western border and
affords transportation for the great lumber industry along its banks; the
Jordan and Wolf rivers, and numerous tributary creeks. The prevailing timber
is the long leaf or yellow pine and the face of the county is level or
gently undulating.
The soil is sandy, but, with reasonable
fertilizing, will produce a great abundance of all kinds of vegetables
and fruits. The pecan nut is also a source of profit. Oysters and shrimps
are found in unlimited quantities along Mississippi Sound and in the marshes
along the coast, and the canneries of Bay St. Louis and Biloxi do a thriving
business, their products going to northern and eastern markets and even
to Europe. Salt and fresh water fish and crabs are also caught in great
numbers in the gulf, bayous and streams of this favored region and prove
a source of profit. Grazing lands are excellent. Besides the splendid water
transportation facilities afforded by its rivers and the gulf, the Louisville
& Nashville R. R. runs along its southern fringe and provides ample
rail transportation. The climate along the coast is invigorating and healthful,
the salt air, the piney woods, and the mild temperatures prevailing both
winter and summer, are attracting an increasing number of outsiders every
year, many of them invalids seeking a return of health in this land of
flowers and balmy breezes.
Hancock County depends more upon her industries
in lumber and sea foods than upon those related to agriculture for her
support and development. The value of the crops raised from the soil is
given at only $216,000 in 1919, while the 16 establishments which produce
lumber and handles shell fish had an output valued at $2,806,000. In wages
among about 1,500 laborers the distribution amounted to nearly one-half
of the value of the output.
