Hancock County Historical Society

Preserving the history of Hancock County

📍108 Cue St. Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
📞(228) 467-4090
✉️hancockcountyhis@bellsouth.net

​🌐Hancock County Historical Society's Website
👍Hancock County Historical Society's Facebook

​​Hours:
Monday: 10am - 3pm
Tuesday: 10am - 3pm
Wednesday: 10am - 3pm
Thursday: 10am - 3pm
Friday: 10am - 3pm
Saturday: CLOSED
Sunday: CLOSED
​(closed for lunch between 12pm and 1pm)

About Hancock County Historical Society

​Like many Bay St. Louis residents, it was love at first sight for Charles Harry Gray, the director of the Hancock County Historical Society. The year was 1984. The event was the Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge. Mr. Gray had driven in his Rolls Royce from New Orleans to the Bay to observe. Within a week, Charles Harry Gray had purchased his first home in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

Not long afterward, Mr. Gray attended a meeting of the Hancock County Historical Society, became a member, and was made vice president on the very day he joined.  This was before the Lobrano house was bestowed to the Historical Society at a time when Historical Society members held their meetings at local restaurants.  Charles Harry Gray knew all about restaurants, as he had operated Corinne Dunbar’s restaurant in the grand parlor of her home on St. Charles Avenue. At Corinne Dunbar’s, guests were treated as if they were dinner guests at a party in her home. I suspect that those who visit the Hancock County Historical Society experience a similar sense of welcome.

The Society is headquartered in the Kate Lobrano House, described on the Historical Society's website as “a delightful 1896 shotgun cottage that was donated to the society in 1988 by the grandchildren of Katherine Maynard Lobrano.” The original house (108 Cue Street) is used as a turn-of-the-century museum while an addition to the rear of the house provides office and storage space. Depending on the day of week, guests will find either Charles Gray or Eddie Coleman, newsletter editor and staff person, manning the operation along with one of the Society’s officers or a community volunteer.

Membership in the Hancock County Historical Society is 1,000 strong, and membership is nationwide. In fact, Gray marvels that a contingent of out-of-state members commit to months of volunteer service onsite while vacationing in the Bay area.

In the pre-Katrina years, visitors traveled to Hancock County regularly via tour bus often to visit the 728 Bay St. Louis houses on the National Registry. The tour buses are no longer running, and the Hancock County Historical Society functions in many ways as a guest or travel center for those who want to know what to see and do while in the area. At its heart, however, the Historical Society collects, preserves, and maintains a collection of documents, photographs, memorabilia, and artifacts designed to help future generations understand their heritage.

As a private institution with no state funding, the Hancock Historical Society relies entirely on charitable contributions and memberships and is only as strong as its community involvement. To that end, the Historical Society has a standing invitation to anyone who has lived in Hancock County to share their family histories. If you bring in photographs, Society volunteers will copy and file them in color-coded binders labeled Waveland, County, People, Tony Scafidi, Hurricanes, Cemeteries, Registered Trees, Bay St. Louis Houses, and so on. The photos will also be scanned and saved online to the Cloud. The Hancock County Historical Society is only as good as its community participation. ​

Photos