Biloxi Rifles were a part of the 3rd Mississippi Infantry CSA during the Civil War with United States in 1861, which was made up of Mississippi Gulf Coast natives.Post Civil War Biloxi faced a relatively difficult time. In 1881 Lopez, Elmer and Company became the first seafood cannery in Biloxi and by the end of the decade four additional canneries were established.

Some of the first fishermen were Austrians from the Dalmatia Coast. In 1890 the Bohemians became the first imported laborers from Baltimore. By the turn of the century Biloxi had become the Seafood Capital of the World.
In the 1920s there were more than 40 seafood factories occupying the two cannery districts. In 1927 the seawall was constructed to protect the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Biloxi hotels then included: Edgewater Gulf Hotel, White House Hotel, Tivoli Hotel, Buena Vista Biloxi Hotel, Kennedy Hotel, Park Hotel, Avelez Hotel, and Rivera Hotel.

Biloxi got a Coast Guard Air Station between 1934 and 1947 and was located on Biloxi’s Point Cadet. In 1941, Biloxi was the site for an Army Air Corp technical training base known as Keesler Field which is today the location for many technical schools and employs many local people.

Hurricanes have devastated the Mississippi Coast for years. Some most notable were the 1722, 1893, 1915, 1947 hurricanes and the 1969 Hurricane Camille which dealt Biloxi a catastrophic blow though life came back to normalcy immediately. The economy of Biloxi recovered post the hurricane but slowly. In 1992 all of it changed post the legalization of dockside gaming.
The success of gaming in Biloxi has had an incredible effect on all elements of the city as it has only grown ever since. The fairy tale got a huge bolt from the blue in 2005 with hurricane Katrina that brought a stand still.

The fact that Biloxi has the ability to survive and fight back was proved post Hurricane Camille and it was reestablished after Katrina. Biloxi is now the place of growth and revival. It is not only rebuilding itself post the catastrophe, it is also building the future stronger than the present.