A history of Pearlington,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Pearlington from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusPearlington is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hancock County, Mississippi, United States, on U.S. Route 90, along the Pearl River, at the Louisiana state line. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Pearlington had a population of 1,153. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall just south of Pearlington.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,332 to 1,153 (-13%). Half of its homes were built before 2004.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pearlington yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Pearlington’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewPearlington, Mississippi. Truck d…, 1943: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Pearlington, decade by decade
LOCPearlington, Mississippi. Truck driver at a highway coffee …1943
LOCPearlington (vicinity), Mississippi. Truck drivers at a hig…1943
LOCPearlington (vicinity), Mississippi. Truck driver eating at…1943
LOCPearlington (vicinity), Mississippi. James Hall, truck driv…1943
LOCPearlington (vicinity), Mississippi. James Hall, truck driv…1943
LOCPearlington, Mississippi. James Hall, truck driver, stoppin…19431990s
2 historic places in Pearlington
2 places in Pearlington are on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Pearlington, Mississippi. Truck driver at a highway coffee stop on U.S. Highway 90 (1943) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom the Library of Congress (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.