Location: Biloxi
Top Things to do in Biloxi
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6 Points of Interest & Landmarks in Biloxi That You Shouldn't Miss
Sitting along the shores of Mississippi's Gulf Coast, the city of Biloxi has been a favorite vacation destination for decades, with sandy beaches and calm waters perfect for jet skiing or deep-sea fishing. Having suffered heavy damage during Hurricane Katrina, Biloxi is bouncing back. The casinos and resorts are back in action, offering championship golf and live entertainment. The city has restored many historic sites, including Beauvoir, the home of Confederate president, Jefferson Davis.
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1. Beauvoir
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,170 reviews
Home of Ex-Confederate President of the Confederate States of America where he lived his remaining 12 years of his life (post-war) and where he wrote "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government." Golf Carts are now available to rent. Guided tour of the home showing how life was lived by the President and his family and self guided grounds (Varina's Garden, Cemetery, and nature trail), Museum, separated into 3 sections: Rotating Gallery, Soldier's Exhibit, and President Davis Exhibit. Research Library including reference books to accommodate most genealogy research focused on the Civil War.
Reviewed By interceptpubs - Columbus, United States
Built around 1850 by James Brown, a wealthy planter, as a summer home on the Gulf of Mexico, Brown called his new estate "Orange Grove." Brown died in 1866, but it wasn't until 1873 that the property was sold to pay back taxes and settle his estate. It quickly changed hands a couple of times, ending up in the possession of Sarah Ann Dorsey, the daughter of a wealthy planter in Natchez. She bought the house along with 600 hundred surrounding acres, renaming it "Beauvoir" or "beautiful view." Dorsey was a childhood friend of Varina Howell, Jefferson Davis' second wife, and herself had known the Davis family all her life, often visiting the Confederate president's elder brother Joseph's family at his home, Hurricane Plantation, near Vicksburg. When Jefferson Davis came to the Gulf Coast in 1877 seeking a place to write his memoirs, Dorsey offered him the use of one of the cabins on the estate. Two years later Dorsey died, leaving the entire estate to Davis. Davis, his wife, and their youngest daughter, known as Winnie, lived here until his death in 1889. The remaining two women moved to New York City in 1891, although they retained ownership of Beauvoir. The Davis family finally sold it in 1902 to the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for use as a veterans home. It served in this role until 1953. The main house was turned into a shrine to the late Confederate president in 1941 with a museum honoring Confederate soldiers in the basement. With the closure of the veterans home, the home's hospital became the soldier's museum and a Davis' family museum took up the exhibit space in the main house's basement. In the late 90s, the Jefferson Davis Library and Museum were opened on the grounds. Unfortunately, just a few short years later, Katrina hit devastating the ocean front property. The main house survived, but has required extensive restoration that is only now in its final stages. A number of artifacts were also damaged, and the Library was effectively destroyed. Overall damage estimates exceeded $25 million dollars. Fortunately, much of the restoration is now complete, as we discovered in our recent visit to the estate. The first stop for visitors is the gift shop where tickets ($12.50 for adults) for the hourly house tours can be purchased. The tour itself last about 30 minutes and covers all the rooms in the house (although some rooms, such as Jefferson Davis' bedroom, are only looked at through the glass doors/windows). The rooms are mostly furnished with pieces from the Davis' family. The docent provides a fairly fast paced overview of the estate's history with a particular emphasis on the time that the Davis family lived here. After the house tour, we went back into the main building to look at the museum exhibits that take up much of the second floor. Items from Jefferson Davis, including correspondence, as well as an extensive collection of Civil War military material (edged weapons, rifles, flags, etc.) are on display. Some damaged items are shown to illustrate the havoc caused by Katrina. We then walked the 50 or so acres of grounds including out to the soldiers cemetery, where we found the grave of the Confederate unknown soldier, before finally hitting the gift shop to buy some interesting books on the history of the estate, the Civil War, and Mississippi. Overall, we spent about two hours here and enjoyed every minute of it.
2. Chris LeDoux Trail Marker
3. Hurricane Katrina Memorial
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 70 reviews
Reviewed By sherrywenta - Nashville, United States
This memorial is emotionally moving. The personal effects encased in the memorial pay tribute to the people whose families, homes and businesses were so devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
