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Colorful tales of the MS Gulf Coast from specters to sodas and from buccaneers and pioneers.

The story of the Mississippi Golden Gulf Coast can't be told without a few tall tales--pirates, buried treasure, ghosts and colorful characters pepper its diverse past. From incredible stories of the pirate Jean Lafitte to iconic legends like Barq's Root Beer, travel from Bay St. Louis to Biloxi and every nook and cranny in between to discover the legends and lore of Mississippi's Golden Gulf Coast. Local historian Edmond Boudreaux explores this exciting history, recounting the fantastic tales that launch the reader into the past and create a truly captivating history.

In its earliest days, Natchez, Mississippi, attracted entrepreneurial people who saw potential for future enterprises.

In fact, by the 1850s, Natchez boasted more millionaires per capita than any other small town in the country. This wealth, and the energy that came along with it, created a vibrant and bustling early environment in Natchez. The city streets served as the stage on which the action took place, and where the drama of real life in a young and hopeful America unfolded. Natchez: City Streets Revisited captures through vintage photography the images of this unique period in the city's history. Included are the early businesses that prospered in Natchez, as well as the grand homes of the pioneering families who brought prosperity to Natchez. This visual journey is possible due to the skill, craftsmanship, and foresight of the city's early photographers--Henry D. Gurney, Henry C. Norman, and his son, Earl Norman. Henry Norman trained under Gurney and went on to become Natchez's most sought-after portrait artist. In addition to portraiture, he photographed everyday life in Natchez, strolling the brick sidewalks of the city to document elaborate new storefronts and merchandise displayed on curbs. Earl Norman carried on his father's tradition and continued to photograph the city and its people in his own highly acclaimed collection.

Rare and vintage photographs document the fascinating history of Gulfport, from small port city to modern urban hub.

Gulfport's name says it all. The port and railroads were the foundation for this community. In 1900, at two years old, its population was only a little over 1,000. However, by 1906, that number had grown to over 14,000. A wide channel and deepened basin provided for the 36 ships anchored in the harbor. Capt. William T. Hardy's railroad was complete. Wealthy oilman Capt. Joseph T. Jones had made good on his promises of a train depot, an office building, banks, schools, churches, and stores. The luxurious Great Southern Hotel stood as a star costing over $350,000 to build. Gulfport was a thriving port city. The golfing, hunting, and waterfront activities were an early appeal. Images reflect great fortune and the desperate losses in Gulfport.

Learn the story behind how the town of Oxford, Mississippi, and The University of Mississippi came to be.

Oxford and Lafayette County were formed from the Pontotoc Treaty and the Chickasaw Cession of 1832 and the revised agreement in 1834. This treaty with the Chickasaws ceded land that formed 12 counties in North Mississippi. On June 22, 1836, three land speculators, John Martin, John Chisom, and John Craig, donated 50 acres to the Board of Police for the formation of the city of Oxford. The name Oxford was proposed by a nephew of John Craig, Thomas D. Isom, who worked for him in his trading post, in hopes that the state legislature would place the new state university there. Oxford was chartered by the State of Mississippi on May 11, 1837. The University of Mississippi opened its doors in 1848.

Located 20 miles from the state capital of Jackson, Copiah County was organized after an agreement was reached with the Choctaw Indians in 1820.

Named after a Native American word meaning "calling panther,'? Copiah County quickly became an agricultural and manufacturing hub. Once known as the "Tomato Capital of the World,'? the county was the location of the largest Chautauqua assemblies in the South, and the site of the founding of the Mississippi Parent Teacher Association. The former town of Brown's Wells once produced spring water that "healed'? the rich and famous. Notable citizens from Copiah County include bluesman Robert Johnson; Maj. R. W. Millsaps, for whom Millsaps College was named; Burnita Shelton Matthews, the first female federal district court judge; Pat Harrison, a former representative and senator; Albert Gallatin Brown, a former governor; and Fannye Cook, an author and the first director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.

Marion County was originally created in 1811 as part of the Mississippi Territory, and its hardy, pioneering spirit can be felt in its citizens even today.

The brave and intrepid settlers of Marion County have always had a hand in their home's fate, from the early events of statehood to their roles in both the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The historic John Ford Home hosted many notable figures, including future Andrew Jackson while on his way to his destiny at the Battle of New Orleans. Gov. Hugh White, football great Walter Payton, musician Jeff Bates, and dental pioneer Dr. Charles Bass have also called Marion County home. Sylvester Magee, reportedly the last living slave in America, is buried here, as well as Revolutionary War soldier John Warren and Gen. Benjamin Lee. The historic county seat of Columbia was born of the Pearl River--as a modern city today, Columbia still embraces a colorful past with its southern charm, scenic Main Street, and its numerous historic buildings.

Although many bluesmen began leaving the Magnolia State in the early twentieth century to pursue fortune and fame up north, many others stayed home.

These musicians remained rooted to the traditions of their land, which came to define a distinctive playing style unique to Mississippi. They didn't simply play the blues, they lived it. Travel through the hallowed juke joints and cotton fields with author Roger Stolle as he recounts the history of Mississippi blues and the musicians who have kept it alive. Some of these bluesmen remain to carry on this proud legacy, while others have passed on, but Hidden History of Mississippi Blues ensures none will be forgotten.

Washington County, located on the Mississippi River in the heart of the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta, is the culture that cotton built.

Founded by hearty pioneers willing to risk even their lives for the unexcelled wealth that the ""white gold"" of cotton promised, the county was literally carved out of a swampy, cane-covered wilderness where the brave were as likely to reap an early grave as elaborate grandeur. This collection of more than two hundred photographs from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth depicts the unique and pervasive dichotomies that the struggle to weave the ""Cotton Kingdom"" produced, especially the twin threads of prosperity and poverty. Here men struck it rich in an unprecedented short time, but here they lost it just as quickly. While high cotton bought white men opulent homes and the leisure to produce literary classics, simultaneously it bought the black man little more than a shotgun shack and the pain that birthed the blues. Witness the challenges presented to the mule by the machine and to the isolation of the county's way of life by international war and the infusion of industry. Despite the divisions, this collection also illustrates the common, commendable effort by the citizens of one American county in the South to clear their land, cultivate their fields, build their homes, pave their streets, construct their highways, lay their railroads, and protect it all from flood, fever, and fire with an unfaltering faith in the future.

Author Julie L. Kimbrough pieces together a fascinating look at the city that is the political and economic center of Mississippi.

Jackson celebrates the history of Mississippi's capital city with more than 200 photographs from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the National Archives, and university collections. From its start as a settlement on LeFleur's Bluff overlooking the Pearl River to its present-day position as one of the leading cities of the New South, Jackson's history is one of change, colorful characters, and a uniquely Southern atmosphere. Beginning with a tour of one of the city's oldest and best-known streets, Jackson features the work of outstanding local photographers and combines detailed historical narratives with entertaining stories about ordinary Jacksonians. From the club president who saved a magnolia tree by staging a protest in its branches to the photographer who opened his first studio in a tent, this compelling visual history revisits familiar landmarks and people from Jackson's past.

Join author Richelle Putnam as she recounts how Mississippian’s resolve and fortitude brought the state through one of the hardest economic times in American history.

When the Great Depression erupted, Mississippi had not yet recovered from the boll weevil or the Flood of 1927. Its land suffered from depleted forests and soil. Plus, the state had yet to confront the racial caste systems imprisoning poor whites, African Americans and other minorities. Nevertheless, innovative Mississippians managed to keep their businesses and services open. Meanwhile, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs fostered economic stimulation within the state. Author Richelle Putnam also highlights the state's spiritual and cultural giants, who rose from the nation's poorest state to create a lasting footprint of determination, pride and hope during the Depression era.

Capturing townspeople and lifestyles that have long since disappeared, this remarkable review of Marshall County's history features dozens of images which have never before been published. Antebellum mansions and Victorian cottages look new again; cotton gins and wagons lining the courthouse square mirror an agrarian economy, which has all but vanished from the area. From the desperate poverty of turn-of-the-century sharecroppers to the revelry of a 1950s homecoming parade, all aspects and segments of Holly Springs life are included. Marshall County natives will recognize old friends and familiar businesses in these images. Those just discovering this fascinating corner of Mississippi will see its history graphically illustrated through the lens of Mrs. Smith's camera.

The history of Jackson is filled with gripping tales of horrors and heroism. Join Ryan Starrett and Josh Foreman as they reveal the hidden past of the City with Soul.

A recording company founded in the mid-1960s with the expectation of competing with New Orleans and Memphis was a national success, outlasting its better-funded rivals. Known as the Devil's Backbone, the Natchez Trace is the graveyard for countless travelers slain by the road's numerous serial killers, brigands and land pirates. Yet one mass grave stands above the others: the Boyd Mounds, which hold the remains of thirty-one Choctaws. Although legend has it that the father of Jackson, Louis LeFleur, was a Canadian trapper famous in high society for his dancing, the truth is even stranger.

Inside are thirteen little-known tales from the Gulf Coast from Lake Borgne to Mobile.

Sail into the Mississippi Sound with Bienville, the Frenchman covered in serpentine tattoos. Meet the heroes of the Sound: fearless Father LeDuc, who faced down Yankee pillagers; the wild woman of Horn Island, who could shoot as well as any man; and Ray Nosaka, who fed his body to the dogs of war, all in service of his country. Glimpse a school of the Sound’s own patron fish, the striped mullet, Biloxi’s bacon. But don't get too comfortable on the beach - a hurricane is always on the horizon. Join authors Josh Foreman and Ryan Starrett on this journey into the hidden history of the Mississippi Sound.

This narrative history of Hattiesburg, MS illustrates the people, places, and events that have shaped its cultural and natural history.

Founded by William Hardy at the confluence of rivers and rail lines, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is today a capital of education, healthcare, commerce and the armed forces in the Gulf South. In this new biography of the Hub City, experience its story as you never have before. Hunt and forage alongside Native American tribes centuries before European settlement. Build a cabin with pioneer lumbermen on the edge of the forest, jostling for profit in the cavernous Piney Woods. Train with soldiers at Camp Shelby on the eve of deployment in World War II, and march alongside civil rights activists during Freedom Summer in 1964. In this narrative history, author and Hattiesburg native Benjamin Morris offers a captivating account of the Hub City from its prehistory to the present day, from its darkest hours to its brightest futures.

Hattiesburg was dubbed ""The Hub City"" because of its geographic relationship to six great Southern cities.

On a map, it appears to be the center of a great wheel, with railroad lines fanning out like spokes to New Orleans, Natchez, Jackson, Meridian, Gulfport, and Mobile. This intersection has been a pivotal part of the founding, early history, and continuing role that Hattiesburg plays in the economic and cultural development of the Southeastern United States. Images of America: Hattiesburg covers the city's founding by William H. Hardy, the impact of the lumber industry and the railroads, the educational institutions that benefited from the largess of local timber tycoons, the illicit fight that made John L. Sullivan the last bare-knuckle heavyweight boxing champion of the world, and scenes of city and rural life in the 1920s.