French Colonial Memorial Garden & Moran Site

The garden pays tribute to the settlers that are buried on the site. The graves of 32 French Colonial settlers from the early 1700s were discovered here. The French Colonial Memorial Garden is the site of the second oldest burial ground of French Colonial Settlers in the country.

In the early 1700’s, “New Biloxi” served as a staging ground for thousands of European Immigrants brought over to work the inland concessions. A cemetery near the present-day Biloxi Lighthouse and Visitors Center was first revealed in 1969 after Hurricane Camille damaged the Moran Art Studio that stood there. The burials were left in place, but the public could view them through a plexiglass window placed on the floor of the studio. The cemetery was fully exposed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Archaeological and bio-archaeological investigations conducted between 2007 and 2009 by the University of Southern Mississippi Yielded approximately 30 male skeletal remains. This discovery signified this site as the oldest known French Colonial Cemetery in the South and second oldest in the United States. On December 20, 2013, these European descents were re-interred to their original resting ground, and a rose garden was planted. On March 6, 2017, the MS Gulf Coast National Heritage Area delivered a Weeping Angel carved from Carrera Marble by an Italian sculptor to reside over the garden.

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110 Porter Ave., Biloxi, MS

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