The Ship Island Lighthouse

Ship Island Lighthouse:   A Beacon of Hope

     Early in the company's history, Hancock Bank leaders integrated the Ship Island Lighthouse into the corporate logo to reiterate Hancock's mission of guiding the people of the Gulf South toward their financial goals and dreams.

      Built in 1886 to replace an original, deteriorated brick lighthouse at Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico's Mississippi Sound, the 72-foot wooden Light Station #2 led generations of mariners to safe harbor. A welcomed sight to sailors, seamen, and fishermen seeking refuge from Nature's wrath, the island's resident sentinel witnessed two world wars, bid farewell to over 100 million board feet of exported Mississippi lumber, and survived the ravages of 1969's infamous Hurricane Camille.

     On June 27, 1972, the beloved landmark succumbed to the smoldering embers of a careless camp fire. On October 9, 1998, the ceremonial felling of a 25-year-old South Mississippi yellow pine and subsequent reforestation projects commenced reconstruction of the lighthouse.

      Hancock Bank and other businesses partnered with the Friends of the Gulf Islands National Seashore in securing donations of time, talent, and resources to create a third lighthouse marking the natural deepwater harbor discovered by Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville more than 300 years ago. Local woodsmen, craftsmen, and U.S. Naval Construction Battalion volunteers used original blueprints and regional materials to painstakingly rebuild the lighthouse. Hancock Bank helped the Friends dedicate the third Ship Island lighthouse on June 9, 2000.

     Although Ship Island Light Station #3 proved no match for Hurricane Katrina's unprecedented tidal surge on August 29, 2005, the strong, proud, resilient spirit that the lighthouse embodied endures as a tribute to Gulf South citizens' inherent, collective capacity to rise amid adversity.

     The lighthouse itself is gone. However, its figurative beacon continues to shine brightly toward an era of great opportunity throughout the region.