Biloxi Lighthouse
1061 Beach Blvd, Biloxi, MS
Biloxi, MS
A slender cast-iron tower standing improbably in the median of the beach highway, keeper of the coast's light and symbol of its stubborn survival.
The Biloxi Lighthouse is a slender, black cast-iron tower that has stood on the Biloxi shore since 1848, one of the first cast-iron lighthouses in the American South. It is a curious sight today, marooned on a small island of grass in the median of busy Beach Boulevard, with cars streaming past on both sides, but the sea has simply moved and the road grown up around it.
For more than a century and a half the lighthouse has guided boats along this shallow, island-sheltered coast, and it has weathered every great hurricane the Gulf has thrown at it. That endurance has made it far more than a navigation aid. It is the symbol of Biloxi, the image on the city's seal and the thing residents point to when they talk about riding out the storms and coming back.
What Guests Love
- A working lighthouse standing right in the middle of the beach highway
- Its story of survival through more than a century and a half of hurricanes
- The graceful, slender lines of a cast-iron tower from the 1840s
- The wide view of the Mississippi Sound just across the road
Worth Knowing
- Tower climbs are offered on a limited schedule; check ahead if you want to go up
- There is a visitor center across the road that pairs well with a stop
- It sits along one of the longest man-made beaches in the country, good for a stroll
- Traffic runs on both sides, so use the crosswalk to reach the tower safely
Details
Biloxi, MS
Learn about Biloxi Lighthouse
A cast-iron tower from 1848
The Biloxi Lighthouse was erected in 1848, its tower cast from iron plates in a foundry and shipped to the coast to be bolted together, a modern method for its day that produced a slim, strong tower far quicker than one of brick or stone. It rose over the sand to guide vessels through the Mississippi Sound, the shallow water behind the barrier islands where a wrong turn could ground a boat.
The light is famous for its keepers. For long stretches of its history the lighthouse was tended by women, an unusual thing for the era, including a mother and daughter who kept the light for many years between them. In an old story that coast people still tell, the tower was painted black at one point, said by some to be mourning for a fallen president, though the likelier reason was practical, to protect the iron. The tale stuck all the same.
Surviving the storms
This coast is hurricane country, and the lighthouse has outlasted them all. In 1969 Hurricane Camille, one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the United States, drove a devastating surge across Biloxi and left the lighthouse standing, tilted and battered but upright. It became a rallying image for a shattered city.
The greater test came in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina pushed a record storm surge over this shore and flattened much of the beachfront. The lighthouse survived again, though it needed extensive repair, and its return to service became one of the first signs of the coast's recovery. Standing there in the median, scoured and rebuilt more than once, it has earned its place as the emblem of Biloxi's resilience.
Climbing the light
The tower is open for guided climbs on a limited schedule, a narrow spiral of iron steps winding up inside the shaft to a gallery near the top. From up there the reward is a sweeping look along the beach, out over the Mississippi Sound to the barrier islands on the horizon, and back across the rooftops of Biloxi.
A visitor center sits just across Beach Boulevard, with exhibits on the lighthouse and the coast's maritime history, and it makes a natural pairing with the climb. Even from the ground, the tower rewards a close look, its ornamental ironwork and gentle taper a piece of nineteenth-century craft standing in the middle of a modern highway.
The beach, the sound, and the seasons
Across the road lies one of the longest man-made beaches in the country, a broad ribbon of white sand fronting the Mississippi Sound. The sound is shallow and warm, sheltered by the barrier islands offshore, and it draws brown pelicans, gulls, and terns, with dolphins often seen from the beach and from the boats that run out to the islands.
Spring and fall bring the coast's best weather, warm and breezy. Summers are hot and humid and coincide with hurricane season, which shapes life all along this shore into the autumn. Winters are mild, a quiet and pleasant time to walk the beach and admire the old tower without the crowds.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Biloxi
Beauvoir
About 4 miles west
A historic raised beachfront cottage, the last home of Jefferson Davis, set among ancient live oaks.
Ocean Springs
About 6 miles east
An artsy coastal town across the bay bridge with a walkable downtown and the Walter Anderson Museum of Art.
Ship Island
Offshore, reached by boat
A barrier island in the Gulf Islands National Seashore with a historic fort and clear Gulf water, reached by ferry.
Gulfport
About 12 miles west
A neighboring coast city with a harbor, beaches, and a marina for island ferries and fishing charters.