Alphabet File page 165
HANCOCK CATTLE
Hancock's cattle also now represents a county income of $300,000 a year - with its herds of native cattle bred with Brahma bulls on cut over land constantly improving in quality. In the county there are several registered herds of Aberdeen Angus, that of E. M. Brignac Jr. on the Poplarville road about ten miles above Kiln, being one of the finest on one of the prettiest farms in the state. With no winter worries, plenty of rainfall and plenty of grazing grass this county is as yet a practically untouched cattle kingdom.
If this article had been written a year ago we could not have reported any industrial activity - but suddenly for the same basic reasons that new residents are gravitating to Hancock to live, small industrial plants are coming to locate.
In March of 1957 the Markel Manufacturing Plant, makers of aluminum framed screens and doors, moved from New Orleans to Coleman Avenue in Waveland. This company has been operating in New Orleans since 1952, but when Mr. Markel moved his home to the Coast in 1954 for his baby's health he suddenly discovered that it was also advantageous to move his plant operation too.
Here the company doubled its business - found its shipping and traffic problems minimized - and is centrally located in its growing and booming trade territory that covers Southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. ELECTRONIC PANELS
Also to Bay St. Louis in April 1957, came a new company and the only one of its kind in this area of the South, producing electronic panels for the chemical process industry. The customers of this Monitor Panel Company, oil refineries, naval stores plants, pulp mills, insecticide and other chemical plants. It is easy to see that in this Coastal area, to which are converging more and more chemical plants, the Bay St. Louis location was intelligently chosen. H. A. Thompson, Jr., and Reese Horton, both chemical engineers registered in Louisiana and Mississippi are the partner owners. Their employees are electricians and pipe fitters living in or near Bay St. Louis.
These two new industries, as Hancock County business men realize, are the first of a new industrial trend toward this rich and bountiful county that straddles Highway 90, the transcontinental short cut across the Deep South, and that forms the Western anchor end of the fast growing Mississippi Gulf Coast, picked by economists as one of the brightest spots on the nations economic map.
ITS BOARD OF SUPERVISORS REPORT
When the Centennial visitors converge in August on Bay St. Louis, curious about this county of which it is the seat, the Board of Supervisors can proudly present a magnificent ten year report not only of progress made but of problems solved - a report that dramatically shows that Hancock County with a present population of only 12,000 people (5800 of whom are concentrated in the Bay St. Louis-Waveland coastal area) has doubled its assessed value in ten years from $5 million to $10 million.
This report will show that Hancock County has grown in these ten years from a Class 7 county to a Class 4 county -that from a county with an indebtedness of $200,000 in 1948, part accumulated and part the result of the destructive 1947 hurricane that swept the Coast, Hancock is now, in this Centennial Year of its County Seat, a county that has on deposit with all accounts paid and all maturities met, well over a quarter of a million dollars.
At this point we present the present Board of Supervisors and County officials, several of whom have served all or part of this entire ten year period of accomplishment, achieved with no tax increases, but with careful administration and rigid economy. (SH April 1958)
1895
County assessor F. C. Bordage appraised the Bay St. Louis voting precinct at $252.986.00 in 1895.
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Election Precincts in 1895 (recent SCE article undated) showing valuation of personal property in each:
(List compiled by Prof. F.C. Bordage, County Assessor)
Bay St. Louis $252,986.00
Center 14,345.00
Gainesville 17,194.00
Kiln 19,454.00
Lacy 11,190.00
Moreau 15,664.00
Nicholson 49,140.00
Parker 10,166.00
Pearlington 193,172.00
Waveland 33,854.00
Yamacraw 17,575.00
Total 634.745.00
1927 -1934
Bridges- 1st Bay St. Louis Bridge built (1927?)
2nd Bay St. Louis Bridge built (1953?)
Rigolets Bridge has been opened to traffic. This makes it the first time a ferry-less connection has existed between New Orleans and the Mississippi Coast. There still remains 19 miles of unpaved road in Hancock County. (The Mississippi Guide, July 4, 1930 VF MJS IX 00159)
The newly opened free Rigolets Bridge was seriously damaged by a barge and will be out of service for three months. Old route has two toll charges which will have to be used and paid during end of summer business. There are only 18 miles of gravel road between Gulfport and New Orleans, all in Hancock County. (The Mississippi Guide Aug 21, 1931 VF MJS IX 00183)
Only one half mile of Highway 90 between Gulfport and New Orleans remains to be paved. There are two blocks at Bay St. Louis. Four miles west of Bay St. Louis there is one-quarter a mile over a "fill" (Mississippi Guide, Sept. 23, 1932 VF MJS IX 00197)
1976
Monday the Board of Supervisors gave themselves a raise from $9,200 to $10,600 per year. Raises were also given to some other county employees...George Heitzmann, county tax collector and assessor, got an automatic raise from $16,000 to $18,000 when assessments in the county exceeded $36 million...Raises were granted to Circuit Court Clerk Henry Otis and his deputy, and to four radio dispatchers and two deputies to Sheriff Sylvan Ladner. Raises for eight of his deputies were turned down. Sheriff Ladner's own salary is based on population, not assessed valuation. (Hawk, 1/22/1976).
Board of Education - August term county Board of Supervisors, among those present was A.G. Stevenson, county superintendent of education whose report was examined and approved. (SCE 8/6/1892)
Board of Supervisors, Court House (Ph 48-49, 55)
August term county Board of Supervisors August term county Board of Supervisors, present: J.A. Favre, president; W. H. Slaydon, J.L. McGehee, P. J. Mauffray and F. V. Saucier, members. Jos. F. Cazeneuve, Sheriff, E.H. Hoffmann,cl'k. Report of A.G. Stevenson, county superintendent of education, examined and approved. (SCE 8/6/1892)
Chamber of Commerce, Russell Bl. (Ph 48-49, 55)
Clerk of Courts (Ph 48-49)
County Agent, Knights of Columbus Bl. (Ph 48-49, 55)
Health Dept., City Hall (Ph 48-49, 55)
Library, K. C. Hall (Ph 48-49, 55)
Police Court, the governing body of Hancock County until 1870 when the name was changed to Board of Supervisors.
Sheriff & Tax Collector (Ph 48-49, 55)
Supt. of Education, Court House (Ph 48-49, 55)
Tax Assessor, Court House (Ph 48-49, 55)
Welfare Office, Main (Ph 48-49, 55)
Senators
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Isaac R. Nicholson, first state senator.
Hanson Allsbury (of Biloxi) rep. both Harrison and Hancock.
H. Bloomfield (about 1900)
Sheriff
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Democratic Primary August 26, 1975 Earl "Buck" Ladner against Sylvan J. Ladner Jr. - Who won?
Supervisors
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Travirca, James - 1976
Representatives