410 Old Spanish Trail

Waveland sits at the western edge of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, about 19 miles from Gulfport, where Hancock County meets the Gulf of Mexico. It is a small, incorporated city of roughly 7,300 residents that carries a distinctly coastal character without the commercial sprawl found in larger neighboring communities. Waveland is actually the only city along the Mississippi Gulf Coast that prohibits commercial buildings on its beachfront, preserving open shoreline that defines the city's identity. Buccaneer State Park, a 400-acre expanse that includes beach access and recreational land, anchors the area's outdoor life. The city's history runs deep, from Andrew Jackson's former landholdings on what is now Jackson Ridge to its documented resilience following Hurricanes Camille and Katrina, a story told at the Waveland Ground Zero Hurricane Museum.