New Stamp Commemorates Biloxi's Lighthouse

It withstood the wrath of Hurricane Katrina and has become a symbol of strength for those in Mississippi and now the Biloxi lighthouse holds an honored place on a United States Stamp. MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports.

The Biloxi lighthouse stamp is part of a series featuring five lighthouses which have withstood the fury of Gulf Coast hurricanes. At a ceremony held yesterday in Biloxi behind the backdrop of the 64 foot tall lighthouse, the new series of stamps were unveiled before a crowd of hundreds. Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway says it’s a great honor for the city to have their lighthouse depicted,

“Well you know that’s our icon, you see people everyday taking pictures of it. In Biloxi, the lighthouse has been a guide and a rallying point for the citizens of Biloxi.”

The lighthouse which was constructed in 1848 and lays claim to being the only lighthouse is America that is straddled by a highway, has weathered 18 named hurricanes. Just four years ago Hurricane Katrina’s 26 foot storm surge put the lighthouse halfway underwater. Biloxi Historian Murella Powell,

“After every hurricane I think the first thing that pops into peoples’ minds is is the lighthouse still standing, and it is always still there. That to us is a symbol of hope and strength and survival. It is unimaginable that it would fall.”

Katherine Tobin, a Governor with the United States Postal Service, says in these hard economic times, releasing a series of stamps which show lighthouses which have weathered the worst of times is a signifgant symbol to the American people,

“When you are at sea and you don’t have radar or any other way of knowing where you are, you can’t tell where land is, you need something that gives you a hint and lighthouses do that.”

The Biloxi lighthouse also holds an honored place in the center of Mississippi’s license plates. The 44 cent first class lighthouse stamp can be purchase in sheets of 20.