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Community History Archives

Community History Archive Partner

Harrison County Library System

Gulfport, Mississippi

Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Gulfport.

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2Titles

Explore publications and collections from the past.

1888 to 1905Dates represented

See individual titles for available dates.

19,874Archive pages

Historical pages reported for this collection.

Explore local history

Discover the people, places, and stories of Gulfport, Mississippi.

Explore the past of Gulfport, Mississippi through newspapers in the Harrison County Library System's digital archive. The archive includes The Biloxi Daily Herald and The Biloxi Herald, with material from 1888 to 1905.

You can open the archive using the link below.
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  • Selected titles

    In the collection shared by Harrison County Library System, you will find “The Biloxi Daily Herald” and “The Biloxi Herald”.

  • Free and open access

    No subscription or payment required.

  • A closer look

    Newspaper pages connect individual accounts with a wider story, preserving how events were reported and presented to the readers of the day.

Reporting from the time can reveal how people described the events, work and concerns of their day, placing a local story within the history unfolding around it. Whether you are tracing a family connection, exploring a local event or sharing history with a class, there is more to discover than names and dates alone. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.

Explore the collection

Titles in this collection

Explore The Biloxi Daily Herald and The Biloxi Herald through 19,874 digitized pages, with material from 1888 to 1905. This collection is shared through Harrison County Library System's partnership with Advantage Archives. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.

If you are tracing a family connection or exploring local history, the titles below offer a place to begin and a thread to follow.

The Biloxi Daily Herald

16,505 pages from 1898 to 1905

The Biloxi Herald

3,369 pages from 1888 to 1898

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About the Archive

About The Harrison County Library’s History Archives

The Harrison County Library provides free and open access to local history through its Community History Archive, offering residents, researchers, and genealogists the opportunity to explore primary sources that document the people, places, and events of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives , the archive serves as a searchable digital platform that delivers practical online access to historical newspapers and materials at no cost. The collection includes digitized newspapers and archival materials spanning the late 19th century through the present, preserving firsthand accounts and a snapshot of time that reflects “history as it happened” across Harrison County. These materials support genealogy, research, and community engagement while ensuring long-term accessibility to important cultural assets.

About the Library

About The Harrison County Library

The Harrison County Library is part of the Harrison County Library System, a network of public libraries serving communities across the Mississippi Gulf Coast, including Gulfport, Biloxi, Pass Christian, Long Beach, and surrounding areas. The system provides access to books, digital resources, research databases, and public technology, along with programs and services that support lifelong learning and community engagement. Its Local History and Genealogy Department offers specialized resources such as archival photographs, postcards, and historical documents, making the library an important hub for research and discovery. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

Library History

The History Of The Harrison County Library

The Harrison County Library System developed as part of the region’s commitment to education and public access to information, growing alongside the expanding communities of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Over time, the system established multiple branch libraries to serve both urban and rural populations, ensuring broader access to resources and services. Its Local History and Genealogy collections have expanded through preservation efforts and partnerships, including digitization initiatives that make historical materials more accessible. These efforts reflect a shared responsibility to preserve the region’s collective history and provide meaningful access to primary source documents. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}

About the Community

About Gulfport, Mississippi

Gulfport, located in Harrison County along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, developed as a key port city and commercial center in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The arrival of the railroad and expansion of maritime industries helped fuel its growth, establishing it as an important hub for trade and transportation. The region has a diverse cultural history shaped by European settlement, coastal industries, and tourism. Harrison County itself was established in 1841 and has played a significant role in Mississippi’s economic and cultural development. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}

Harrison County Library System photo 1

Local History

Did You Know?

Did you know that Harrison County’s local history collections include marriage records dating back to 1841 and tax records from as early as 1832? These documents provide a direct connection to early settlement in the region and offer valuable insights for genealogy and historical research into the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s earliest communities. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}

More ways to explore and share local history

Research Guidance

Look for the story behind a result

A family name, a familiar street or a story passed down through generations can lead to a closer look at the history of Gulfport. The digital archive shared by the Harrison County Library System offers a place to begin. When using historical newspapers, try alternate spellings and nearby dates, then read the surrounding page to place a local story in its time. Compare later reporting or another available title to explore different perspectives rather than treating one account as the whole story. Search a person, place, or event with a second term, then compare the date and context of each result. A repeated name needs more evidence before it identifies the same person or connects two parts of a story.

After recording the issue and page, search a second term tied to the result and compare the surrounding dates and accounts. Keep matching names provisional until the place and context fit. This can turn one result into a better question without turning a repeated name into a confirmed story.

Capture the title, date, and page or item location for a detail you may want to revisit. Label your interpretation as your reading, not the source's own words. Keep enough context with the note that another reader can retrace it.

Review collection titles

Community Partnership

Keeping local history a community resource

This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Harrison County Library System, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.

Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.

Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.

Learn about partnerships
Read All About It

Stories, research tips, and archive news

Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.

Newest published articles

March 18, 2025

It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?

We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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