Old Spanish Fort, Historic French colonial house in Pascagoula, United States.
Description
The Old Spanish Fort is a colonial-era house in Pascagoula, Mississippi, built with remarkable local materials. The walls are made of oyster-shell concrete, and the wooden frame comes from longleaf pines native to the region, making it a unique example of early construction techniques.
History
The house was founded in 1757 by French-Canadian settler Joseph Simon dit La Pointe and is the oldest confirmed building on the Gulf Coast of the United States. Over the following decades, it was enlarged and adapted multiple times, surviving hurricanes and other challenges of the coastal region.
Culture
The house is named after its founding family and displays how people lived during the early colonial period through its rooms and furnishings. The objects inside tell the story of daily work and the choices people made to survive and build a life here.
Practical
The building operates as a museum where exhibits present the history of Pascagoula and Jackson County. Check ahead for opening days and times, and plan to spend enough time to understand the exhibits and explore the rooms carefully.
Did you know?
Scientific analysis of the wooden beams reveals the building was constructed in three phases: 1757, 1762, and 1772. This discovery suggests owners reused wooden material from earlier structures, possibly after hurricane damage forced repairs and rebuilding.
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