Gulfport Casino and Muncipal Pier - Gulfport FL

City:: Gulfport, FL
Site Type:: Civic Facilities, Parks and Recreation, City and Town Halls, Recreation Halls
New Deal Agencies:: Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs, Civil Works Administration (CWA)
Quality of Information:: Very Good
Marked:: Yes
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Casino and Muncipal Pier in Gulfport FL.

The marker on site states that, “The U.S. Department of the Interior has listed the Gulfport Casino in the National Register of Historic Places. This is the third such Casino on this location. The first fell in the 1921 hurricane; the second came down in the early 1930s. Using funds from the Works Progress Administration’s Civil Works Authority. Gulfport dedicated the Casino on December 1, 1935. A crowd of 1,200 people attended the dedication, which included a flag raising and a concert by the Florida Military Academy.

Throughout Gulfport’s history, the Gulfport Casino served as a gathering place for the community and visitors alike. At the first casino, Gulfport’s first tourists disembarked a trolley and could board a ferry to Pass-A-Grille. In 1910, Gulfport’s incorporation was held here.

The designation as a casino stems from the Italian “casa” and refers to a public hall or gathering place; the Gulfport Casino has never served as a gaming facility. The Gulfport Casino is one of two WPA projects in Gulfport; the other, to the east, is the municipal pier.”