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The county government remained there for 20 years until the courthouse and county seat were moved to Gainesville in 1837.
Gainesville no longer exists, having fallen prey to progress when NASA acquired land fe>r the Mississippi Test Facility. But due to the proximity to water transportation offered by the Pearl River, Gainesville was at that time a thriving community.
The county seat remained at Gainesville for more than 15 years. In 1853» the Gainesville courthouse burned, destroying most of the county's first 40 years of accumulated history.
Following the first, the county seat was moved to Shieldsborough, by then beginning to show the effects of expanding settlement of the coastal area.
By 1866, enough new county records had accumulated to require building another courthouse. This wooden structure, surrounded by a picket fence, stood on the same approximate location as the present building. It served for about 45 years, during which period Shieldsborough was renamed "Bay St. Louis", in honor of the bay-upon whose banks It stood.
During these intervening years, Hancock County continued to grow. The ^5-year-old building became no longer adequate.
In 1910, H. S. Weston was president of the Board of Supervisors, and S. J. Craft, J. E. Smith, T. J. McArthur, and L. S. Bourgeois were "associate" members. A. J. Carver was sheriff, and E. H. Hoffman, Clerk. They set the wheels in motion for a new courthouse.
In July, plans submitted by Keenan & Weiss, New Orleans architects, were approved for building a new courthouse "not to exceed the sum of $25,000." The Board advertised in the "Gulf Coast Progress" for construction bids.
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