page_title: Historic Grand Hotels on the Mississippi Gulf Coast
section_title: Great Southern Hotel (Gulfport)
hierarchical_section_title: Historic Grand Hotels on the Mississippi Gulf Coast / Great Southern Hotel (Gulfport)
caption_attribution_description: English: Great Southern Hotel, Gulfport, Mississippi, USA
context_page_description: In 1870, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad was constructed through the southernmost section of Harrison County, Mississippi, connecting New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A northern transportation route into south Mississippi was provided by the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad at the turn of the 20th century. These railroads provided an inexpensive means for moving passengers as well as goods, and opened south Mississippi to both industrial and recreational development.
  Rapidly progressing lumber and seafood industries transformed the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the 1920s, and people arrived from throughout the United States to take advantage of the economic boom. Northern tourists were attracted to the Mississippi Gulf Coast because of mild winters and cool sea breezes in summer, before the introduction of air conditioning. Besides the weather, other tourist attractions included seafood restaurants, swimming, golf, schooner races, sailing to offshore islands, and recreational fishing. During this period of economic expansion, grand hotels were constructed along the Mississippi Gulf Coast to accommodate businessmen, tourists, and transient workers.
context_section_description: Built in 1902-03 by entrepreneur Joseph T. Jones and designed by Mississippi Gulf Coast native and New Orleans-based architect Thomas Sully, the Great Southern Hotel had unheard of luxuries for the time—telephones in every guest room, hot and cold running water, and a bath for every two rooms. The hotel was situated within a few hundred yards (meters) of the Mississippi Sound. It was a 3-story frame building of wood construction with 250 guest rooms. The hotel had its own artesian water well, independent sewerage system, and an independent power plant for steam heat and electricity. Guest amenities included a billiard room, tennis court, horse-and-buggy rental, and an in-house orchestra. The grand hotel was crippled by economics of the Great Depression but held on through the 1940s. During construction of U.S. Route 90 in 1951, the Great Southern Hotel was demolished.
caption: Great Southern Hotel, circa 1920
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