Gulfport, Mississippi reborn (by kerouac2)
Apr 11, 2013 18:31:19 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2013 18:31:19 GMT
Well, I guess it is inevitable that I make a number of posts about the United States after my recent trip, so I will start with my place of birth -- Gulfport, Mississippi. I actually grew up in one of the towns next door, Long Beach, but Gulfport was the big town of interest as far as I was concerned. For one thing, it had 3 movie theatres -- the Sand (originally the 'American Legion Theater'), the Paramount and the Gulf.
Those three places were my main interest in life, as well as the paperback bookstore, where I would go to see what new science fiction books had come out. I had a real future shock moment this week, because I remember that the books I used to buy cost between 25 and 50 cents (a giant James Michener potboiler would cost 75 cents), and a bought a paperback at the airport the day before yesterday priced at $9.99.
Downtown Gulfport was already in decline even back then. I don't know when it hit its high point -- maybe in the 1930's or 1940's -- by the time I came along, there were already more convenient strip malls and supermarkets, and one of the very first indoor malls in the United States -- the Edgewater Mall -- was built in nearby Biloxi. However, I could not casually go there because I needed parental transportation. But to get to Gulfport, I would walk about a mile from the house to Jeff Davis Avenue in Long Beach and take the bus for 10 cents. I started doing this when I was about 11 years old and would spend the whole afternoon, so this goes to show how much my parents trusted me and presumably what a safe place it appeared to be.
Anyway, we moved away in 1967 and the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast was destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1968. I did not return to the area until about 1979 and it was already pretty grim -- the downtown area was mostly abandoned. When the casinos started to open, I went with my parents a few times (since they were living in Florida then), but there was little reason to pause in downtown Gulfport, which was just an empty shell.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 finished a lot of the demolition work that Camille had not completed, and I did not venture back to the area until 2007. This is what downtown Gulfport looked like.
This was my first time back since then, and obviously I was not expecting much. However, I was quite a bit surprised. Obviously, the casino taxes must help out quite a bit, but basically Gulfport seems to have benefited from the fact that it was abandoned long enough to save a lot of the old buildings until they came back into fashion.
Triplett-Day Drugs is of no interest except for being the 1950's icon that has never changed over the years.
The rest of the town has been spiffed up quite a bit.
There were none of these restaurant courtyards in the old days! This was probably the garbage can zone.
This was the train station where my biological father worked.
You could actually take a train to New York City from this platform when I was little.
The Hancock Bank still rules the Gulf Coast (comprised of Jackson, Harrison & Hancock counties).
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i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/Deep%20South/MS-LA2013033.jpg[/IMG]
[/center]
(end of part 1)
Those three places were my main interest in life, as well as the paperback bookstore, where I would go to see what new science fiction books had come out. I had a real future shock moment this week, because I remember that the books I used to buy cost between 25 and 50 cents (a giant James Michener potboiler would cost 75 cents), and a bought a paperback at the airport the day before yesterday priced at $9.99.
Downtown Gulfport was already in decline even back then. I don't know when it hit its high point -- maybe in the 1930's or 1940's -- by the time I came along, there were already more convenient strip malls and supermarkets, and one of the very first indoor malls in the United States -- the Edgewater Mall -- was built in nearby Biloxi. However, I could not casually go there because I needed parental transportation. But to get to Gulfport, I would walk about a mile from the house to Jeff Davis Avenue in Long Beach and take the bus for 10 cents. I started doing this when I was about 11 years old and would spend the whole afternoon, so this goes to show how much my parents trusted me and presumably what a safe place it appeared to be.
Anyway, we moved away in 1967 and the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast was destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1968. I did not return to the area until about 1979 and it was already pretty grim -- the downtown area was mostly abandoned. When the casinos started to open, I went with my parents a few times (since they were living in Florida then), but there was little reason to pause in downtown Gulfport, which was just an empty shell.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 finished a lot of the demolition work that Camille had not completed, and I did not venture back to the area until 2007. This is what downtown Gulfport looked like.
This was my first time back since then, and obviously I was not expecting much. However, I was quite a bit surprised. Obviously, the casino taxes must help out quite a bit, but basically Gulfport seems to have benefited from the fact that it was abandoned long enough to save a lot of the old buildings until they came back into fashion.
Triplett-Day Drugs is of no interest except for being the 1950's icon that has never changed over the years.
The rest of the town has been spiffed up quite a bit.
There were none of these restaurant courtyards in the old days! This was probably the garbage can zone.
This was the train station where my biological father worked.
You could actually take a train to New York City from this platform when I was little.
The Hancock Bank still rules the Gulf Coast (comprised of Jackson, Harrison & Hancock counties).
i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/Deep%20South/MS-LA2013033.jpg
[/center](end of part 1)
