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INTERESTING
FACTS
LOCATION — Mississippi Gulf Coast, 50 miles west of Mobile, 90 miles east of New Orleans, and 170 miles south of Jackson.
CLIMATE — Average temperature for January, 53 degrees F; for July 82 degrees F; average annual rainfall, 62 inches.
POPULATION — Jackson County - 118,000; Ocean Springs - 14,500.
GOVERNMENT — The city of Ocean Springs is governed by a mayor and a board of seven aldermen elected to serve for four years.
EDUCATION — The city of Ocean Springs is among the finest public school systems in the South. Several public, private, and county schools are available for local residents.
JUNIOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES — The Mississippi Gulf Coast supports one of the largest junior colleges. Academic, vocational, technical, and special interest courses are offered. There are three separate campuses on the Gulf Coast with Jackson County Campus being located just east of Ocean Springs. For more information call 497-4313
LIBRARY — Ocean Springs Library, 525 Dewey Avenue, 875-1193. Mon.-Sat.
HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CARE — Ocean Springs Hospital, 125 beds, located on E. Bienville Ave., 872-1111, 24-hour ambulance service is offered by Coast Ambulance Service and Amserv Ambulance Service.
CHURCHES — Ocean Springs numbers 24 churches, representing 12 denominations.
UTILITIES — Electric power service is furnished by Mississippi Power Company. Natural gas supply is available from United Gas Company. The city offers ample water supply from artesian wells. Ocean Springs also offers telephone service, modern fire and police protection, sewage treatment plant, and provides garbage pick-up service.
POSTAL SERVICE — Ocean Springs Post Office, 900 Desoto, 875-4431.
PARKS, COMMUNITY CENTERS, AND RECREATIONAL PROGRAMS — The Ocean Springs Recreation Department and the Gulf Coast YMCA offer a complete program of activities for all ages.
GOLF — Gulf Hills, 6294 yards; Pine Island, 6503 yards; Hickory Hills, 7049 yards; St. Andrews, 6700 yards. CAMPING — Gulf Islands National Seashore at Ocean Springs has all facilities plus a boat launching ramp and a channel into the Gulf. Additional campgrounds are Ocean Springs KOA Campgrounds and Mooney Lake Campgrounds.
INDUSTRY -t- Jackson County is Mississippi's number one industrial county.
CITY OF
DISCOVERY
Pierre le Moyne d’lberville stepped ashore in 1699at a point on what is now Ocean Springs’ Beach Driy He established, for France, the first permanent settlement in the vast central area of North America. To the present day it has been continuously occupied -first as Fort Maurepas, built by Iberville in 1699, then as Biloxi, named after the tribe of Indians that lived here when the French arrived. About 1720 Biloxi was moved across the bay to its present location and the original settlement became known as Old Biloxi. Old Biloxi remained a small Indian trading post until after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 made the area a part of the United States, and the first permanent settlers began to drift in. In 1853 there were about 15 families living here, and they christened the community Lynchburg in honor of an enterprising merchant who then operated a trading post on Fort Bayou.
The name Ocean Springs was coined by Dr. Gec-^e Austin, a New Orleans physician who establish P sanitarium to take advantage of health-giving spring waters found here which had long been prized by the Indians for their medicinal properties. The name was adopted in 1854 ... a happy combination of words describing the little village’s twin attractions. Ocean Springs suddenly became a health resort. The Morgan Line which operated steamboats between New Orleans and Mobile made it a regular stop.
Passenger steamboats no longer ply the Mississippi Sound. But by highway, train and air, visitors continue to come to the pleasant bluff on the Bay of Biloxi that Iberville so wisely selected for his fort.


Ocean Springs Document (002)
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Hancock County Historical Society
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