D’Iberville is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, immediately north of Biloxi, across the Back Bay. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan area. D’berville is an up and coming city that has a thriving new shopping promenade that is still growing.
A new mall is coming to D’Iberville and the developer tells us it will have stores that can be found nowhere else on the Gulf Coast. The mall, set to be built at the southwest corner of I-10 and 110, will be nearly one million square feet. That is comparable in size to the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge. The new mall will employ as many as 2,500 people. Plans for what will be known as “The Gulf Coast Galleria” were submitted and Construction is set to start in January of 2015. North of the promenade are numerous new construction neighborhoods that are built in seclusion, but still minutes from town.
Unlike Ocean Springs, D’Iberville is further north of the coast, but still a very short drive to Keesler Air Force Base Just hop on the I-110 Loop!
(source: https://www.maryandidagulfcoasthomes.com/guide/diberville/)
SIGHTS AND ACTIVITIES
MEGA-BITE FISHING CHARTERS, LLC
Family friendly fishing charts are the primary focus of Mega-Bite Fishing Charters, LLC. Trips are conducted in the Gulf South area with options for inshore Back Bay fishing and offshore fishing throughout the year.
HINT HUNTER PUZZLE (ESCAPE) ROOMS
Hint Hunter Puzzle Rooms are a fun and exciting experience like no other. Together with your friends, you begin your adventure in a specially themed room where you need to solve a series of puzzles – using only the items and hints provided in the room.
GRAND 18 D’IBERVILLE
Amenities at the Grand 18 D’Iberville include wall to wall screens, stadium seating, and high back chairs. The theater also has a game room and offer free refills on large popcorns and drinks.
ANTIQUES & MORE
Antiques & More is a large antique mall featuring antiques, vintage, collectibles, sports memorabilia, primitives, and much more for everyone to shop and enjoy. Over 12,000 square foot store for customers to enjoy shopping for those one-of-a-kind items.
EDUCATION
- D’IBERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
- D’IBERVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL
- D’IBERVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Neighborhood
D’Iberville is a somewhat small city located in the state of Mississippi. With a population of 13,831 people and just one neighborhood, D’Iberville is the 42nd largest community in Mississippi.
D’Iberville is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, D’Iberville is a city of service providers, professionals, and sales and office workers.
There are especially a lot of people living in D’Iberville who work in food service (12.92%), office and administrative support (8.69%), and personal care services (8.64%).
In terms of college education, D’Iberville is nearly on par with the US average for all cities of 21.84%: 19.85% of adults 25 and older in D’Iberville have a bachelor’s degree or advanced degree.
The most common language spoken in D’Iberville is English. Other important languages spoken here include Vietnamese and Spanish.
OCCUPATION & WORKFORCE
D’Iberville is home to a number of people employed in the armed forces. When you visit or walk around D’Iberville, some of the people you will bump into will be military people In and out of uniform, jogging, shopping and generally out and about town.
The per capita income in D’Iberville in 2010 was $21,967, which is upper middle income relative to Mississippi, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $87,868 for a family of four.
However, D’Iberville contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
HISTORY
The history of the City of D’Iberville can be told in two stories; the story of its namesake Pierre LeMoyne, Sieur d’Iberville who explored the area after landing on the Gulf Coast in 1699 and the story of a group of dedicated citizens who worked tirelessly to incorporate the community known as d’Iberville in 1988.
Pierre LeMoyne, Sieur d’Iberville
D’Iberville’s father was Charles LeMoyne. He came to New France (Canada) in 1641 at the age of 15 as the indentured servant of Jesuit missionaries. He was later a fur trader and an Indian fighter. He was a true self-made man, becoming one of the wealthiest and most powerful citizens in modern-day-Montreal and an influential pioneer in the small town of Ville-Marie. In 1668 he was issued letters of patent by the court of Versailles, giving him a noble title. He was also granted land in the Longueuil area and hence became known as Charles LeMoyne de Longueuil. His wife was Catherine Thiery. She gave birth to 13 children, including 11 boys, each of whom fought for the French in their quest to conquer Canada.
In 1686 he was sued for paternity of an unborn child by the guardians of Jeanne-Genevieve Picote de Belestre who accused him of seduction with the promise of marriage. He was found guilty in October, 1688 and instructed to take charge of the child (daughter). He then married Marie-Therese Pollet in October of 1693 after a long courtship. Marie-Therese lived most of her married life in France.
Three of Charles LeMoyne’s sons were part of an expedition of the Hudson Bay in 1686: Pierre LeMoyne d’Iberville, Jacques LeMoyne de Sainte-Helene and Paul LeMoyne de Maricourt. The campaign gave the French control over three trading posts. D’Iberville then travelled to France in 1687-88 and convinced the court of King Louis XIV to fund more, French-led campaigns to compete with the English fur trade in the Hudson Bay area.
It should be noted here that d’Iberville’s motives, like many soldiers of fortunes of the time was both nationalistic and materialistic. He was loyal to the French crown and fought to maintain its control of North American lands and its continued rivalry against the English and he was equally determined to gain wealth in the fur trade and often used the resources of state and the rewards of battle to do so. He is called a freebooter by some historians. He was a ruthless fighter and shrewd tactician. Historians write of his bravery as well as his brutality. One reads such words as pillage, murderous raid, and massacre when reading of d’Iberville’s exploits.
D’Iberville fought against the English, both in North America and Europe. In Canada he battled English fur traders and in Europe he fought the English in conflicts that were part of King William’s War, a conflict that spilled over into the New World and Canadian colonies.
He was second in command against the English at Corlaer (New York), a notorious battle, described by historians as the most brutal massacre of the colonial wars of the time. (The English being the victims of the massacre.) During four months of raiding in 1695 he destroyed 36 English settlements, killing 200 and imprisoning 700. In 1697 D’Iberville faced off with three English ships in the Hudson strait and bravely engaged the ships. He defeated and sunk the 56-gun man-of-war, Hampshire with his 44-gun Pelican. The 32-gun ship Hudson’s Bay also sank and the 36-gun Dering fled. D’Iberville and his crew had to abandon the Pelican as it also sank after being damaged in the battle.
The Treaty of Ryswick, signed that September of 1697 ended King William’s war and along with consequent treaties negated the gains for France that d’Iberville had been a major part of. In 1697 he returned to France.
By 1698, at 37, d’Iberville was a soldier of fortune, known in the Hudson Bay area as “the most famous son of New France.” He had participated in brutal battles and gained wealth and fame. Some historians write that he was looking for more adventure and action in warmer climates. He was in France when King Louis XIV decided to send another expedition to the territory named Louisiana by the explorer LaSalle. D’Iberville was chosen to head the expedition.
D’Iberville argued strongly in favor of the expedition at the court of Versailles saying,
“If France does not seize this most beautiful part of American and set up a colony…the English colony which is becoming quite large, will increase to such a degree that in less than one hundred years it will be strong enough to take over all of America and chase away all other nations.”