Built on a peninsula and founded from the sea by the French more than 300 years ago, Biloxi always enjoyed a special relationship with the water and the seafood it produced. The Mississippi Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum preserves the memory of that legacy, focusing heavily upon the seafood industry.
Established in 1986 at 115 1st Street in Biloxi, the museum exhibits many artifacts and interpretations of the vibrant maritime history and heritage of the Mississippi Coast. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the museum, but a new 20,000-square-foot three-story museum opened in 2014.
“The sea has been instrumental in the development of Biloxi since the beginning,” Elizabeth Alexander, the museum’s education and outreach coordinator, said. “In the 1800s, Biloxi was just a sleepy little fishing village. People caught the seafood and brought it to their dinner tables. By 1900, the people realized that the Biloxi area had enough seafood to share with the world.”
“When people first enter the lobby, they see the beautiful Fresnel lens from the old Ship Island Lighthouse,” Alexander said. “We also have a Laitram automatic shrimp pealing machine, invented by 16-year-old J.M. LaPeyre. Before then, people had to peel shrimp by hand. We also have artifacts from the ‘U.S.S. Biloxi,’ a World War II cruiser, and many other things.”
Alexander’s great-great grandfather, Lazaro Lopez, became one of the people most instrumental in turning seafood into an industry in Mississippi by establishing the first seafood processing plant in the area. Many people from different cultures speaking various languages participated in catching, processing and shipping Mississippi seafood.
“Other cities might be a ‘melting pot,’ but we’re a ‘gumbo pot,’” Alexander said. “We have a new Vietnamese exhibit to recognize their contributions to the seafood industry. The Mississippi seafood industry has an annual economic impact of more than $377 million and provides employment for over 8,500 people. Back in the day, oysters were the huge player, but shrimp is king now.”
Of course, people venturing out to sea need boats. Once called the “White Winged Queens of the Gulf of Mexico,” Biloxi schooners harvested seafood and performed many other functions. These agile sailing craft built locally from Mississippi and Louisiana timber, began as oyster harvesting boats in the late 19th century. Their heyday lasted about four decades.
“Biloxi schooners were the worker bees of the seafood industry for a long time,” Alexander said. “Unfortunately, no original Biloxi schooners still exist, but we own two replicas, the ‘Glenn L. Swetman’ and the ‘Mike Sekul.’ People can charter them or take tours and experience how to sail. The princess of the show, the ‘Nydia,’ a sandbagger sloop built in 1898 about six blocks from the museum, sits in our main gallery.”
Youngsters can sail aboard a Biloxi schooner to one of the barrier islands. In other programs, campers can participate in things such as shrimping and fishing.
“Every summer, we hold a Sea-n-Sail Adventure Camp for children six to 12 years old.” Alexander said. “We teach them about the history of this area and do hands-on activities, like sailing on a Biloxi schooner, how to fish and catch shrimp. Also, Grayhawk Perkins of the Choctaw and Houma Tribes shares his Native American lore. We also hold private events, such as weddings and parties.”
Each May, the museum holds the Billy Creel Memorial Wooden Boat Show. At the largest gathering of boats on the Mississippi Coast, people can see and tour historic, antique, and other wooden craft. The 2025 show will be held May 17-18 at 367 Beach Blvd. in Biloxi.
For more information on the museum, call 228-435-6320 or visit maritimemuseum.org.
