228 Area Code 🌍☎️

Gulfport is a port city in Harrison County, Mississippi, with a 2020 population of 72,926 - the state's second-largest city - serving as co-county seat of the Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area of 416,259 residents along the Gulf Coast on Mississippi Sound. Founded in 1887 by William H. Hardy as a railroad terminus and developed by Philadelphia oil magnate Joseph T. Jones, who funded the harbor and channel dredging, Gulfport was officially incorporated in 1898 and became the nation's largest lumber export city by 1906, shipping over 293 million feet of timber before yellow pine depletion ended that dominance. The economy now centers on military installations including Naval Construction Battalion Center and Combat Readiness Training Center, tourism supported by white beaches and casinos, healthcare, and maritime commerce through the Port of Gulfport, one of the Gulf of Mexico's busiest ports. Despite major damage from Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the city has consistently rebuilt its infrastructure and expanded regional services through Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Biloxi is Mississippi's fourth-most populous city with 49,449 residents at the 2020 census, located in Harrison County on the Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi and serving as a principal city of the Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area of 416,259 people. French colonists established the first permanent European settlement in French Louisiana at nearby Fort Maurepas in 1699 under Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, and the city's name derives from the local Native American tribe. The area served as the administrative capital of French Louisiana from 1720 until 1722, when colonial governor Bienville relocated it to New Orleans due to hurricane and tide concerns. Following British rule from 1763 to 1779 and Spanish rule from 1779 to 1810, Biloxi became part of the U.S. Mississippi Territory in 1811 and the state of Mississippi in 1817, subsequently developing into a renowned antebellum summer resort for wealthy planters and a postbellum vacation destination enhanced by railroad access and seafood canneries beginning in 1881. Today, Biloxi is home to Keesler Air Force Base, which houses the 81st Training Wing and 403rd Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and features the Biloxi Lighthouse, completed in May 1848 and one of only two surviving lighthouses on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Pascagoula is the county seat of Jackson County, Mississippi, located on the Gulf Coast as the principal city of the Pascagoula metropolitan area with a 2020 population of 22,010. Named after the Pascagoula Native Americans, whose language meaning "bread eater" remains undocumented, the city was first visited by Hernando de Soto in the 1540s and permanently acquired by the United States in 1812, incorporating as a village in 1892 and achieving city status in 1901. The city gained international attention in October 1973 when co-workers Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker claimed to be abducted by aliens while fishing, an incident now commemorated annually at the Goula Palooza festival and marked with a historical marker placed in June 2019. Pascagoula was devastated by Hurricane Katrina's 20-foot storm surge on August 29, 2005, and is served by three regional airports including the Trent Lott International Airport 9 miles north and Amtrak service beginning August 18, 2025. The city's economy and infrastructure reflect its strategic Gulf Coast location within the Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area.