Best Web Design in Pass Christian, MS (2026)

Web Design for Pass Christian, Mississippi

Pass Christian, universally called 'The Pass,' is a Harrison County beach town on the Mississippi Sound famous for its live-oak-shaded Scenic Drive and its antebellum resort mansions. It was a playground for wealthy New Orleanians before the Civil War and cradle of the South's first yacht club. Battered by Hurricane Camille in 1969 and nearly obliterated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the town endures on oysters, sailing, and Old South charm.

AppWT works with Pass Christian, MS businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Pass Christian

Also known as. The Pass. Passe aux Huitres / Oyster Pass (its French name for the oyster-rich channel).

History. Named for Christian's Pass, the deepwater channel through the Sound reportedly navigated in 1699 by a member of d'Iberville's crew; the French first called it Passe aux Huitres (Oyster Pass) for its abundant oysters. Nicholas Christian L'Adnier settled on nearby Cat Island beginning in 1746. In 1799 Julia de la Brosse (Widow Asmard) deeded 800 arpents, essentially the entire downtown, to Charles Asmar, a free person of color. Chartered as a town in 1848; lies in Harrison County, formed in 1841 and named for President William Henry Harrison. Became a famous pre-Civil War resort, lined with the summer mansions of New Orleans elite along Scenic Drive. Hurricane Camille (August 17, 1969) destroyed the Richelieu Apartments, killing eight; Hurricane Katrina (August 29, 2005) damaged or destroyed all but about 500 of roughly 8,000 homes with a storm surge near 28 feet.

Local economy. Seafood processing, especially oyster harvesting, historically dominated the local economy. Oyster beds were decimated by Hurricane Katrina and again by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with reported mortality of 90 to 95 percent in some areas. Tourism, recreational sailing, and golf now supplement the working-waterfront economy.

Culture and community. Deep seafood tradition rooted in the town's oyster reefs, the source of its original French name. Scenic Drive's antebellum mansions form one of the country's notable historic residential districts. Sailing culture dating to the Southern Yacht Club and the Gulf Coast's first sailing regatta. Live-oak-shaded War Memorial Park is a central gathering place on the beachfront.

What makes Pass Christian distinct. The Southern Yacht Club, founded in Pass Christian in 1849, was the first yacht club in the South and the second in the United States; it hosted the first Gulf Coast regatta (twelve boats) on July 21, 1849, before moving to New Orleans in 1857. The entire downtown was deeded to a free person of color, Charles Asmar, back in 1799. Hometown of ABC 'Good Morning America' anchor Robin Roberts and novelist Jesmyn Ward, who won the 2011 National Book Award for 'Salvage the Bones.' Katrina's surge here ranked among the highest ever recorded on the U.S. mainland.

Pass Christian Landmarks and Local Life

• Scenic Drive historic district and its restored antebellum homes
• War Memorial Park - shaded by ancient live oak trees
• Middlegate Japanese Gardens (1923-1929) - listed on the National Register of Historic Places
• Sherman Castle - a concrete house begun in 1921 inscribed 'God is my Sculptor'
• The harbor and beachfront on the Mississippi Sound