Live Local: Biloxi City Hall

Lace up your shoes and take a stroll with News 25’s Lorraine Weiskopf in today’s edition of Live Local, a series you can catch here on News 25 on Thursday.

Today, we take you to another stop on the Biloxi Walking Tour: Biloxi City Hall.

The grand marble city hall on 140 Lameuse Street is almost a picture-perfect copy of its past self, yet it’s had a few job changes in its employment history. Biloxi Library Historian Jane Shambra said, “First it was a federal building, which was a courthouse and post office. Later on, in the 1960s, the purpose changed and it became City Hall.”

Built in the early 1900s, construction took four years. There were multiple delays because of the Yellow Fever epidemic, hurricanes, supply issues, and problems with subcontractors.

Some of the issues we still face today, like hurricanes, and yet after more than a century, the building stands resilient against whatever is thrown its way. City of Biloxi Public Affairs Specialist Cecilia Dobb-Walton said, “It has several layers, exterior layers that help strengthen the building. The outside is marble that’s imported from Europe then it has bricks, mortar and four by fours and everything that goes into a normal building.”

The layout is almost identical to its past, what was once the judge’s chambers are now Mayor FoFo Gilich’s office. “Our courtroom is now the city council room. So, when people get to come in, they get to see floors that are original. They see a lot of molding that is original, take them out on the balcony, there’s no door to go out of, you have to go out the window.”

While the bustling post office is no more, the building still shares stories of its postage past. “Peepholes were put in place we were told when the postmaster was here and he would have the ability to sneak around in a crawl space. He would look at the employees to make sure they’re not stealing anything and they’re doing their work correctly.”

The peeping post masters are gone, but the marble giant remains as it is expected to for many to come.

Live Local is made possible through the support of the Biloxi Library System.