PASCAGOULA

city, seat (1812) of Jackson county, southeastern Mississippi, U.S. It is situated on Pascagoula Bay of Mississippi Sound, at the mouth of Pascagoula River adjacent to Moss Point (north), 21 miles (34 km) east of Biloxi. The Gulf Coast settlement developed around the Old Spanish Fort built in 1718 by the Frenchman Joseph Simon de la Pointe. It thrived in the 19th century as a lumber-shipping port. The Pascagoula River is known locally as the Singing River because of strange humming sounds audible in its vicinity. A seaport and fishing and shipbuilding centre, Pascagoula also has industries manufacturing paper products, petroleum, chemicals, and clothing. The Bayou Casotte Industrial Park is immediately east. Inc. village, 1892; city, 1904. Pop. (1990) city, 25,899; Pascagoula MSA, 115,243.