On any given day, five to 10 people take the Biloxi Lighthouse tour, climbing the 57 steps to the top of city’s signature landmark, but on Saturday between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the city employee Heart Walk team is hoping dozens will make the climb.
The typical city fee – $5 for adults or $2 for children 12 and under – will be waived, but donations will be accepted for the American Heart Association and its upcoming Heart Walk at Jones Park.
“When the city Heart Walk team was looking for an activity which would increase awareness of the upcoming Heart Walk and raise funds, the lighthouse climb was the obvious choice,” said Bill Raymond, the city’s Historical Administrator and manager of the Biloxi Lighthouse Park and Visitors Center. “This event will showcase the most recognizable historic landmark on the Coast while providing heart healthy exercise.”
The Saturday event will also be a chance to tour the lighthouse outside of its normal tour hours. Typically, tours of the Lighthouse are offered only each morning at 9, 9:15 and 9:30 a.m. Said Raymond: “On most days, by 10 a.m. it’s 100 degrees in the lighthouse.”
The Biloxi Lighthouse was erected in 1848 and was one of the first cast-iron lighthouses in the South. The Biloxi Lighthouse was one of three Mississippi Sound lighthouses authorized in 1847 by legislation sponsored by Mississippi Rep. Jefferson Davis.
Print the flyer for the Lighthouse Climb
See Lighthouse background and live stream
See a Mary Ann Mobley-narrated video about the Lighthouse
See the video for the song “The Biloxi Lighthouse,” by Steve Cason
