Location Information
(for the Magnolia Hotel)
Name:Magnolia Hotel [Mardi Gras Museum]
Address:119 (137) Rue Magnolia
City/County:Biloxi, Harrison County
Architectural Information
Construction Date:1847
No. of Stories:2.5
Registration Information
NR Listing Date:14 Mar 1973
NR District Name:Biloxi Downtown Boundary Increase
NR Status:Contributing
Element No.:20
MPS:Historic Resources of Biloxi
View National Register Nomination Form
Mississippi Landmark Information
Designated:10-11-1985
Recorded:12-10-1985
Book/Vol. No.:V. 165, p. 401
Local Designation Information
Local District Name:Downtown Biloxi Historic District
click here for additional information on this district.
Local Landmark Listing Date:07 Sep 2010
click here to view ordinance
Context/Comments
Thought to be the oldest hotel structure surviving on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Constructed in 1847 for John Hohn. The building and its history illustrate the close social and economic ties between the Mississippi Coast and New Orleans and document the historic importance of tourism to the area. Included in "The Buildings of Biloxi" (1976 and 2000) and in "Buildings of Mississippi" (2020) (CG25, p. 348).
Brief Description
2.S-story, brick-between-post, five-bay-wide (dd-dd-d-dd-dd) French Colonial Center Hall hotel with a front-gable roof and a double-galleried wraparound porch supported by chamfered posts spanned by a closed balustrade. Bay 3 is a 1-light over 2-panel door with 2-light over 1-panel side lights and a double transom of 14-lights. Other entries are French doors; those on the I st and 3rd floors are 6-light over I-panel with 4-light transoms, and 2-light over 1-panel on the 2nd floor. The building has a brick pier foundation, stucco cladding, and a wood shingle roof. Distinctive features include a pair of exterior staircases, and entrances to each room leading to the porch.

The structure has had several additions. The first addition was added prior to 1890 and includes the introduction of 4 dormers and a balcony in each gable end. Each balcony has two doors and a shed roof awning. They are supported by Gothic brackets with pennants. Subsequent additions include a dining room and kitchen connected by a covered veranda, all of which were later removed.
Historic Information
Constructed in 1847 for John Hohn, a German immigrant and proprietor of a tavern and coffee house in New Orleans, for a cost of $2,800. After Hohn died the following year on April 4, 1848, the business was taken over by his wife. The hotel was run by several successive generations of Hohn women until World War II. The building was nearly lost during Hurricane Camille. In 1972, a group of Biloxi citizens had the hotel moved 150 yards north of its original site, on the same lot, and had it restored.