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Bay St. Louis a melting pot of culture
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Bay St. Louia has survived on an unusual mixture of tasty pralines and money-hungry pirates, lean missionaries and well-fed tourists. It has grown from a small, 1699 French post with a handful of soldiers and families to an incorporated city of 8,471.
It is a quiet community, the envy of big-city dwellers tired of late-night sirens andlong lines at the grocery store. Yet, it’s inhabitants can kick up their festive heels as well as those in nearby, fun-loving New Orleans. Mardi Gras, street festivals, shrimp-fleet blessings and the like do not pass unnoticed.
Affectionately called “The Bay” by those who live there. Bay St. Louis has grown pas a pas. It is a melting pot of French, Indian, Spanish and other cultures — a mixture which flavors accents and language almost as much as the tons of pecans once dumped into boiling sugar to make candy for the ‘‘Praline Capital of the World."
"Living is easy in this part of the country,” wrote native Caroline Kiefer at the Bay’s centennial celebration in 1958. "People move !	slowly,	relax	leisurely	and	make	an art of enjoying
life.”
Hers was one of many stories produced for Bay St. Louis’ 100th year of incorporation. The town <’	was decorated for the occasion, and its citizens
,	dressed in Indian skins, Victorian collars and
1	calico dresses to celebrate the passing years.
Week-long festivities included a 250-cast pageant which whisked viewers from Indian village to European settlement, from 1800s resort to a 1958 town with electric lights and a bright future.
The centennial was a time for Bay townsfolk to toot their horn about the past. On that note, two booklets were published, chock-full of history and old photographs. One of them was the official '	publication of the Bay St. Louis Centennial
Corporation, while the other was produced by the Hancock County Eagle, a newspaper since bought by the Sea Coast Echo.
One of the most revealing quotes reprinted for the occasion came from a New Orleans editor who had visited the Bay in 1842:
“Fishing and fine bathing, good eating and drinking, music and dancing, bowling and pistol shooting, billiards, et cetera, contribute some of the amusements and enjoyments at the Bay St. Louis Hotel. . . . There are lots of beautiful and interesting ladies, who complete the galaxy of splendid attractions now at this desirable resort.
"Indeed, Bay St. Louis is a right pleasant place."
But what is believed to be the town's first name doesn’t conjure up pictures of pleasantness. Traditional stories tell us that when a Choctaw village was located there it was called _______ .
Bay Sai