Old Town Sites at NASA

[redbronco]

Has anyone ever checked into the old town sites around the NASA Stennis Center in Hancock County. They were Gainesville, Napoleon, Santa Rosa and Flat Top. I think Flat Top and Santa Rosa are on the outskirts of the off limits area. You can still find them on some maps. Better yet does anyone have any connections at NASA.

 

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[Cass]

Redbronco, I have hunted that area hard since 69, and since Katrina, the only place you might be able to find any of those sites is on a map.They have all been totally destroyed by Katrina.Very little cleanup has been done and what cleanup has been done leaves stumps, debris, knee-deep waterfilled ruts, and cleaned up or not,the results is that the lack of timber lets in the sunlight now and everything is covered with a new and thick covering of heavy underbrush. It is unbelieveable and sickening.Most places you can't even get into the woods, since "woods" no longer exist. I try and do my scratching further North now,toward HB where things are not destroyed as bad. Cass

 

[redbronco]

Thanks for the info. It is the same around Hattiesburg. The areas that weren't cleaned up at old home places are thick with downed trees, briars and underbrush. I tried an old house site off Hwy 98, 2 months ago and by the time I got out of there, I soaked with sweat, eaten up by bugs and only found an old saw blade.

 

[jeremeysmom23]

Good Morning To all
My Husband grew up in the Gainsville & surrounding towns. There is good hunting there after a couple
good frosts. There is also several buried treasures there but not found yet... NO BANKS THEN...
So it was buried.....

 

[Cass]

How do Mom ?Well I hope! I spent all day Sat. trying to hunt some of those woods(no more).The tree tops are all now rotten enough that you could crunch down and walk through the smaller ones if it were not for the 3 years growth of vines and briars that have come up through the tops and everywhere else. We had to root around like a bunch of hogs to find a place to get a coil on the ground.Briar nearly ripped my face off! Really sad situation it was and we didn't even consider going into a clearcut, cleaned up (??) area, because it is worse because of the added ruts and stump holes that have completely changed any hopefully recognizable landmark into total confusion. To make things worse, the Gov. Has claimed a huge area to the South and West (Mike's River ) for the Troops to do their LIVE FIRE operations. The signs they have up now are enough to convince(Scare you to death) you that you would not want to be anywhere near the place. I too remember the area as it was before Uncle came in and it is the truth to say that He created one unbelievable mess, even before Katrina came through. I often wonder how an area can still be considered a "Buffer Zone" when they "clearcut" large tracts of timber, that were originally supposed to be a factor in the "Buffer," reasoning for choosing the location in the first place. I better hush, this is beginning to sound like a rant! HH.

 

[keithinvestigations]

Thanks for the info. It is the same around Hattiesburg. The areas that weren't cleaned up at old home places are thick with downed trees, briars and underbrush. I tried an old house site off Hwy 98, 2 months ago and by the time I got out of there, I soaked with sweat, eaten up by bugs and only found an old saw blade.

Hey Redbronco. I think we've posted each other before. Where are you located? I'm in Ellisville, MS.

 

[Keychainman]

I work at Stennis Space Center. This spring, I went on a tour to Logtown and I'm researching the old town and old home sites this summer waiting for cooler weather this fall and early winter. Ya'll are right about the thick underbush right now. You got to watch out for all kind of critters in them woods now. I know that you can't go to Gainesville no more because NASA is trying to get the old site on the Historic Places with the Fed. Govt. I know that Flat Top and Santa Rosa is still open to the Public with permission with NASA. When I go this fall this year I will keep in touch what I find. I found the locations of the old school, 3 old churches, and about 10 old home sites.

 

[jknight]

The area where NASA is located, I thought was off limits. I spoke to a game warden the other day and he told me that no one was allowed to enter the area...

 

[New Orleans Relic]

I work at Stennis Space Center. This spring, I went on a tour to Logtown and I'm researching the old town and old home sites this summer waiting for cooler weather this fall and early winter. Ya'll are right about the thick underbush right now. You got to watch out for all kind of critters in them woods now. I know that you can't go to Gainesville no more because NASA is trying to get the old site on the Historic Places with the Fed. Govt. I know that Flat Top and Santa Rosa is still open to the Public with permission with NASA. When I go this fall this year I will keep in touch what I find. I found the locations of the old school, 3 old churches, and about 10 old home sites.

Well its been a year. How have you done there? I have friends in Kiln and am going to start hunting Waveland and Bay St louis beaches soon. I could stop at Stennis and inquire. Any other thoughts on or off the beach? Thanks, Ray

 

[redbronco]

I went fishing at Bay St. Louis a couple of weeks ago and they were moving sand all up and down South Beach Blvd. Just a heads up on that. I know their are a good many people on the beach so it would be a toss up on good or bad day on the beach.

 

[SwampHunterD]

Away from the Pearl River is still good places to search. Away from the old town of Gainesville, you might want to try searching for old homesteads in the areas from Flat Top road to the eastern side of Picayune. Alot of troop movement in this area in the early 1800s, plus when it was being settled away from Gainesville, you had to travel north on either side of Catahoula. Good places to search would be anything south of hwy 43 from Picayune to Kiln. If you know anyone with an old farm or land that has been passed down for years, try to get permission from them.

 

[laffitte]

The town in NASA land is I-10 and The Pearl River. You can get to it by boat. it is the northeast corner. Or North of I-10 and East of the river. The best to go there is Winter or early Spring(April is nice) because the growth is so thick in summer and the Deer Flies are really bad. Lookout for Water Moccasins.
There are good places in Ocean Springs, Ms. The old buildings that people haven't found. Or built over. Deer Island is great. John Lafitte buried a chest. On the North side of the Island The chest was recovered in 1911.
So if you believe this: A friend, in 1991 found a chest on the North side of Dauphin Island, Alabama. He found it after a heavy rain storm. He kept it a secret till this day. He hasn't worked a day in his life since 1991. I know why he doesn't want to tell. The government will take it all.