The Mississippi City Cemetery Project
The Mississippi City Cemetery is a restoration and preservation project of the Historical Society of Gulfport. No records can be found. We are trying to document grave sites and their location. The Harrison County Board of Supervisors, represented by Joe Meadows, has agreed to work on the maintenance. The priority now is not just to record names but celebrate the histories of the lives of those buried at the Mississippi City Cemetery.
If you are interested in participating in this Mississippi City Cemetery Project, contact any member of the Historical Society of Gulfport, or you can go to the Contact page.
Sincerely,
BettyShaw
Timeline of the Documentation and Restoration of the Historic Cemetery
- Members noticed that the grounds of the cemetery were in need of upkeep.
- The HSG contacted the county regarding the state of the cemetery, but no records were found.
- County workers repaired the fence and did a general cleanup.
- The Harrison County Supervisor of District 2, where the cemetery is located, ordered a title search and retrieved the title document verifying that the property belongs to Harrison County, even though it is located in the city limits of Gulfport.
- Members of the HSG recorded information from gravestones using forms from the National Park Service.
- An Honor Class of students from the Jefferson Davis Community College began documenting the property as well.
- Scout troops, individual members of HSG, Seabees, and county road crews have helped maintain the grounds.
- Veterans Day ceremonies were held in 2013, 2014, and 2015 by the Honor Class students from JDCC who compiled a list of veterans buried there.
- Students from Gifted Classes from two Gulfport elementary schools began researching the cemetery and held two cemetery tours, with future tours planned.
- Two Gulfport High School classes collaborated in continuing to document the history of the cemetery. The Public History class created a spreadsheet containing information about graves. Groups from the Spatial Technology class surveyed the site and completed the certification project. Each one did a different analysis of the information that had been collected. Since 2016 a survey of about one-half of the cemetery has been created by the class working with the Harrison County GIS Department.
- A senior history major from the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast is working on a project to collate all written research materials and to create a spreadsheet which refers to both the survey itself and the binders that have been created containing burial as well as biographical information on those buried in the cemetery.
