With a pedigree that
includes the “2017 Peoples Choice Award for Favorite Museum” as well as the “Maritime
and Seafood Industry 2017 Hall of Fame”, I felt a visit to the Biloxi Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum would be a must see.
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| Biloxi Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum |
Located just a few blocks
from my hotel, I boarded the Casino Hopper in front of Harrah’s at 8:40am. I found this would put me at the museum entrance with plenty of time to spare before my
9:00am meeting with Michelle Peterson, the current Outreach Program
Coordinator.
Originally completed in 1986
at Point Cadet in Biloxi, the original museum building was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A new building needed to be
constructed but who would be commissioned and what would it look like?
The challenge presented was
to design a building to house and showcase the newly restored Nydia, a
30-foot gaff-rigged cabin sloop.
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| The Nydia view from the 2nd floor |
The new building opened August 2014 and is the
brain child of architect Daria Pizzetta. The project was commissioned
to Ms Pizzetta for her “ship in a bottle” vision, resulting in a truly exquisite
building. The Nydia is the only boat in the museum that
was placed there before construction
was finished. This allowed for the surrounding
glasswork to be installed last, thus transforming the Nydia into Pizzetta's “ship
in a bottle” vision.
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| The Nydia |
The lens was strategically placed at the
entrance to the museum to continually greet people as it had done for so many
years on Ship Island. Ship Island is the only island of the 6 Barrier Islands that proved deep enough to port a ship
and warrant a lighthouse. In 1861 however, the
confederates took seige of Ship Island. Due
to the high value placed of the lens, the confederates stole the lens and the lighthouse was burned
down. As the confederate soldiers were on their way back to New Orleans they were stopped on Lake Pontchartrain. The lens was recovered and taken back to Ship Island. The lighthouse was then rebuilt, reusing the original lens.
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| New Ship Island Lighthouse Photo Public Domain |
As I progressed through the museum the next item to grab my attention was the 30 foot high mast and sails of the Nydia. Constructed by Wiliam Nels Johnson in 1897 in a shipyard on Back Bay, the exhibit represents the only known remaining boat in
existence built by Mr. Johnson. The Nydia is most famous
for her speed, logging in an amazing 22 wins since her first competition in
1898.
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| The Nydia |
Also inside you will have the
opportunity to explore over 300 years of history, heritage and culture that
helped shape the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Explore exhibits on
oystering, shrimping and crabbing. Be
sure to take a look at the exhibit that displays the history of how nets were
developed that would allow turtles to safely escape.
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| Display on the history of canning |
There is also a great
display on charter boat and recreational fishing and what is special about each
of the 6 Barrier Islands
– Cat, Ship, Deer, Horn, Round and Petit Bols island.
You won't want to miss the
shrimp peeling machine invented by a 17 year old. In 1979 his
shrimp pealing machine could peel 1,000 pounds of shrimp in just 1 hour. This was equivalent to the work of 150 people. Taking him 9 years to perfect, the shrimp are dumped into the top of the machine and by the
time they get to the bottom they are peeled.
He went on to invent a de-veining machine and a canning machine. Ironically he named his business Apeeling Company. Cute!
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| Shrimp peeling machine |
Discovered and restored after
Katrina, the museum also displays several model boats including the Mark Boy
and the very detailed Curtis Fountain schooner model, first racing in
1888. You will also see a 1960
Sportcraft Runabout which houses a 1959 Mercury engine.
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| boats on display |
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| boats on display |
How about an early 19th century
Biloxi pulling skif used as a shallow
water working boat or the a catboat built in 1933 crafted mainly with Cyprus wood and used for racing.
The schooner was the original work
horse of the fishing industry back in the late 1800 and early 1900’s and was
used to harvest seafood on the gulf coast, branding Biloxi and the Gulf Coast
as the “Seafood Capital of the World” at that time. Further exhibits include a giant steam kettle
used to steam the oysters, and the actual wheelhouse of the 65’ wooden
Covacevich, named after a famous gulf coast wooden boat builder.
The museum has been able to
obtain some FEMA funding after Katrina hit but is mostly funded from grants and some fund
raising events held throughout the year. In
addition to the admission prices they also offer memberships.
I can truly understand why
Michelle takes such pride in
showcasing the museum. You won’t want to miss it if you are in the
Biloxi area. Admission is $10 for adults
and $8 for seniors.
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