HISTORY · HISTORICAL MARKER
The Quave Commercial Strip
History
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In 1834 Dominique Ladnier sold a strip of land adjacent to the Sanchez strip to Pierre Quave. The most practical location for a town on the Bay was at this strip because of the Bay channel and its proximity to the most suitable ferry landing on the Biloxi side. While the east strip steered the cultural evolution of early D'Iberville, this one created the early town: Quave, then Lazarus, Seymour, Back Bay, North Biloxi, and finally D'Iberville. The town's road was Ramsey, Central today. Pierre Quave had the first general store, which closed during the Civil War because he and his sons joined the CSA. Afterward, the Seymours and Quaves spearheaded growth, interrupted only by the 1893 hurricane. Erection of the first wooden traffic bridge in 1901 spurred rapid growth. Twenty-five years later the famous Old Spanish Trail was completed when the new concrete Back Bay Bridge was dedicated. The town boomed during and after World War Two with seafood factories, variety stores, bakeries, medical offices, pharmacies, service stations, taverns, cafes, cleaners, shoe repairs, barber and beauty shops, a theater, hardware and feed stores, and other businesses. The 1947 hurricane set back development. As people moved farther inland, away from high waters, stagnation ensued. Hurricanes Camille in 1969 and Katrina in 2005 closed the old town forever.
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