One of the main aspects of the Mississippi Delta (in my view) is that the Delta is almost a state within a state. By that, I mean that the Delta looks different, feels different, thinks and acts differently, and because of our “flatness” looks different. Even from 20,000 feet above the Delta one can see the “difference”. Our accents are also different than accents in Tupelo, Jackson, Columbus.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast is the other “state within a state” in Mississippi. There are no other regions like the Delta and the Coast in our state that are so clearly identifiable.
Like the Delta, the Coast is its own world when compared to the remainder of the state. Different look, different way of thinking, and very different accents. I love the Coast. My great-uncle from Shelby, the late J.W. Thomas, bought a summer home down in Pass Christian 60 years ago and my family has had a presence there every since. He and his wife, Elizabeth Kirk Thomas, would go to the Coast in March and stay until early October every year. From the time I was literally one month old, to my years at Ole Miss, I would spend part of my summers on the Coast with “Nunkie” and “Auntie”. What a difference the Coast was when compared to Shelby. When I was around ten years old, one day it hit me like a ton of bricks: “... this place is very different from where I live”.
All of my friends at Ole Miss always talked about going to Destin. I’d never really heard anything about Destin growing up. I can remember asking my friends at Ole Miss that instead of going to Destin for Spring Break, what about the Coast? To my astonishment, they thought I was crazy. All residents of Mississippi, my Ole Miss friends had never spent any time on the Coast–just passed through. Their families had always gone to Destin or to the Alabama coast. Poor people, I thought. They don’t know what they were missing.
Located at 236 Poindexter Drive, our summer home was next to some of the summer homes of several New Orleans families. Our neighborhood was absolutely full of children and through these families from New Orleans, I learned a lot about life. It was a great life then–swimming and water skiing on the bay and on the Jordan River; catching crabs in the bayou behind the house; “floundering” with a flashlight at night on the beach with a nail in the end of an old broom stick; fishing around Cat Island; visiting the Deer Ranch; drinking Barque’s root beer (not available then in the Delta), and having lunch on Sundays at Annie’s. And more: the hard-hitting sun, the hot sand, the smell of saltwater, the smell of pine trees, the roughness of walking barefoot over small white seashells that everyone used in their driveways instead of gravel, big red ants that would give you a big sting, little black crabs about the size of a dime that would clamp down on you and lose their claw in the process, the afternoon thunderstorms that cleaned everything off, the great seafood–boiled shrimp more than anything, and the unbelievable sunsets out over the gulf.
Back then, Pass Christian was nothing more than a little lazy town. Very beautiful, and extremely friendly. Then, Hurricane Betsy hit. Things began to change. Then, three years later, Hurricane Camille hit and things really changed. After that, the Coast I had known was forever gone. Many beautiful homes, all of those great pine trees, blocks of neighborhoods–vanished in Pass Christian after Camille. Many of the New Orleans families we associated with had enough of the hurricanes and simply sold what remained of their property, or just decided not to rebuild on the Coast.
After Camille, for me, it was the end of those golden summers on the Coast. We rebuilt (both times) and continued to go, but, it just wasn’t the same. As I grew up, so did my childhood friends there and we eventually went our separate ways. I regret that to this day. Where are they all now? What are their lives like? I sure would like to know.
In my late teen years and after, I became occupied with other things and didn’t join my family down there as much as I had in the past and, in fact, during the past 20 years, I have only spent two or three days there and that has only been about every three or four years. My family sold the old summer home on Poindexter in the early nineties and my mother lives in another home located just off of Courtney–about a block from the beach there in Pass Christian.
However, last week I had the opportunity to spend several days on the Coast on business and during my off hours, alone, after 20 plus years, I visited all of the old sites and somewhat relived those golden summers. Of course it was very emotional. It always is when you revisit places where you spent perfect moments with your family, and loved ones. For it was in some of these places I took my first steps, said my first words, learned to swim, learned to drive a boat, had my first dates, and spent incredible time with my great-uncle and aunt learning about everything.
I felt very lucky to simply roam and look around with no schedule last week and what an eye-opener it was to me, as the old sleepy Coast I once knew has now been transformed into a modern, vibrant Coast. Not many years ago, the Coast was in bad shape–cosmetically, and economically. The area is now back on top in a huge way. Neighborhoods and developments are being built with great speed; major corporations are relocating there in large numbers; roads are being built, etc. The area was also recently ranked as one of the best places for entrepreneurs by Dunn & Bradstreet and Entrepreneur.com. And, in the short span of the last ten years, the following has taken place:
• Grand Casinos’ corporate headquarters has moved to Gulfport due to the success of Biloxi and Gulfport facilities.
• The economic impact of casino development on the coast is the equivalent to two Nissan plants.
• In the past ten years, the Coast’s tourism visitation has increased 775% and resident population increased 17%–making the Coast the fastest growing region in Mississippi.
• $252 million in new industrial investment has been made and over 3,700 new jobs created through locations and expansions by new and existing companies.
• Average household income for the Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula MSA was estimated at $51,655 in 2000, a 76.3% increase over 1990.
• Average household wealth for 2000 was estimated at $172,562 - 12% higher than the Mississippi average of $154,182.
• Unemployment levels for the Coast decreased to 3.9% in 2001, down from 4.7% in 2000. Overall future employment is projected to grow at 1.1% annually through 2006.
• It is estimated that 11.5 million people visit the Coast annually with 37% classified as overnight visits.
• Gross gaming revenues for the Coast region totaled $1.15 billion in 2001, a rise of 3.6 % over 2000.
• The eight military and federal installations located on the Coast employ over 30,000 military and civilian personnel with a direct payroll of over $1 billion.
• Tonnage at the Port of Gulfport, the third largest container port on the Gulf of Mexico, totaled 2.02 million in 2001, an increase of 2% over 2000.
• All five school districts in Harrison County significantly exceeded the state average on the national standardized Terra Nova skills assessment for students in grades 3-8 in reading, math, and language skills.
• The area is also being recognized as one of the best retirement areas in the country.
As you can see by these figures, (and this is a very brief list), the Coast has much to brag about it and in turn so does Mississippi. Last week I met several business and civic leaders who are leading this effort and in particular, Michael Olivier, Executive Director of the Harrison County Development Commission is one, if the not the one, who is leading the way according to many business leaders there. Described to me by several state economic developers who know him, Olivier is a powerhouse economic developer and the Coast is extremely fortunate to have him. Under Olivier’s watch and direction, much economic progress has taken place and according to various business leaders, the best is yet to come. This is the start of a very long term situation. If you have not had a chance to visit the Coast lately, take a weekend and go there go. You will be pleasantly surprised at what you find.
As I left the Coast late one afternoon last week, it occurred to me that change– of which almost all of us love to resist–most often is good. And, we are seeing positive change at this moment on the southern-most end of our great state.
When leaders and communities come together and set goals, and work off of the same page to achieve those goals, great things can happen.
We are now witnessing the results of this on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. DBJ

Scott Coopwood
Publisher