Cathedral of the Nativity (B.V.M.)

Biloxi's first Catholic parish began as a mission in 1843, and its brick church, dedicated in 1844, was destroyed by a hurricane in 1869. The larger second church lasted until the 1900 fire that swept downtown. For the third, the parish hired New Orleans architect Theodore Brune; it was dedicated in September 1902, with nine Munich stained-glass windows installed by 1906. New York governor Al Smith paid for repainting in 1929, and thirty Keesler soldiers laid a new floor in 1942. It became a cathedral in 1977, when the Diocese of Biloxi was created.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Biloxi Lighthouse — 0.6 mi
  A cast-iron tower lit in 1848 on the Biloxi beachfront, kept by women for most of its first century and still in service after Camille and Katrina.
• Biloxi Beach Wade-In Marker — 0.6 mi
  The beachfront parking lot beside the Biloxi Lighthouse where state markers recall the 1959 and 1960 wade-ins that opened Mississippi's public beaches to Black residents.
• Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art — 1.2 mi
  Frank Gehry's pavilions on the Biloxi waterfront, built around the pottery of George Ohr, the self-styled Mad Potter, and the rebuilt Pleasant Reed House.
• Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum — 1.9 mi
  A Point Cadet museum on Biloxi's oyster, shrimp and schooner past, from the packing houses and the shrimpers' unions to the Vietnamese families who rebuilt the industry.

More markers nearby

• The Magnolia Hotel — 0.2 mi
• Chris LeDoux — 0.4 mi
• Biloxi Blues — 0.4 mi
• Biloxi — 0.5 mi