It also had the advantages of proximity to New Orleans and ease of access via water. In the antebellum period of the 19th century, it became known as a summer resort due to its proximity to the breezes and beaches of the coast. Mississippi, and Biloxi with it, was admitted as a state to the union in 1817.īiloxi began to grow. traded with Spain to take over Biloxi and the related area, making it part of their Mississippi Territory. Despite this, the character of Biloxi remained mostly French, as their descendants made up the majority of the population. See also: Gulf Coast campaign, American Revolutionary War, Spain and the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Mississippi in the American Civil Warīritish rule lasted from 1763 to 1779, followed by Spanish rule from 1779 to 1810. At the same time, the French colony west of the Mississippi, plus New Orleans, was ceded to Spain as part of the Treaty of Fontainebleau. In 1763, following Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War/ French and Indian War, France had to cede their colonies east of the Mississippi River, except for New Orleans, to Great Britain, as part of the Treaty of Paris. ĭue to fears of tides and hurricanes, colonial governor Bienville moved the capital of French Louisiana in 1722 from Biloxi to a new inland harbor town named La Nouvelle-Orléans ( New Orleans), built for this purpose in 1718–1720. In modern times it is called La Louisiane française to distinguish it from the modern state of Louisiana. French Louisiana, part of New France, was known in French as La Louisiane in colonial times. In this year the administrative capital of French Louisiana was moved to Biloxi (or Bilocci) from Mobile (or La Mobile). In 1720, the area of today's city of Biloxi was settled for the first time around Fort Louis.

Labeled along with 'Fort Maurepas' on maps dated circa year 1710/1725, the name was sometimes used in English as 'Fort Bilocci'.

The name of Biloxi in French was Bilocci, a transliteration of the term for the local Native American tribe in their language. La Louisiane was separated from Spanish Florida at the Perdido River near Pensacola (this was founded by the Spanish 1559 and again in 1698). The settlement was under the direction of Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. In 1699, French colonists formed the first permanent, European settlement in French Louisiana, at Fort Maurepas, now in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and referred to as 'Old Biloxi'.

See also: Seven Years' War and French and Indian War Old Biloxi (site B) and New Biloxi (site A), French map, beginning of 18th century

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