Fort Maurepas, OCEAN SPRINGS, MS
The Landing Of d'Iberville
Decided upon by King Louis XIV that the crown should make a more permanent stake in this vast area, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, was commissioned to plant a colony somewhere near the mouth of the Mississippi. He sailed from the port of Brest France in October 1698, with about 200 colonists aboard. Six months later he arrived at Biloxi Bay and landed on its East Side. It was then on April 8, 1699, d'Iberville selected the site of present-day Ocean Springs to build the fort for the first settlement by the French for Colonial Louisiana. The colony founded there what was the first European settlement in the lower Mississippi Valley and the seat of government over a territory that ranged from the Ohio River to the Yellowstone. Fort de Maurepas lasted only three years until it was decided that Mobile Bay would be a more strategic location for the colony
Yearly re-enactments of the landing of d'Iberville take place. Call for dates and details
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