Ramsey Springs is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Stone County,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, United States. It is part of the Gulfport–

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The Ramsey Springs Community is located approximately 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of the City of Wiggins in Stone County, (formerly Harrison County) Mississippi, and dates back to the days of Native Americans.Ramsey Springs Hotel.
/ref> The Reverend Abner Walker and his brother George were directed to the artesian springs situated on the banks of Red Creek a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Pascagoula River The Pascagoula River is a river, about 80 miles (130 km) long, in southeastern Mississippi in the United States. The river drains an area of about 8,800 square miles (23,000 km²) and flows into Mississippi Sound of the Gulf of Mexico. ...

. Red Creek

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

covers over 400 square miles (1036 square kilometers) in south Mississippi; the creek derives its name from the reddish stain of naturally occurring tannins that are carried in the water. George Walker was suffering from a stomach ailment which the Native Americans said could be cured if he drank the mineral spring water. Walker began using the water and found that it relieved his stomach pain. Impressed with the water's curative powers, the Walkers told others about the spring, located on the A.C. Ramsey farm. In 1820, Ramsey had moved to the area and cleared land on a bluff along Red Creek. As early as 1896, a newspaper advertisement referenced a

boarding house A boarding house is a house (frequently a family home) in which lodging, lodgers renting, rent one or more rooms on a nightly basis and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months, or years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and ...

on the property.Nicole Dow. 2011. Ramsey Springs land will be dedicated to conservation. ''

Sun Herald The ''Sun Herald'' is a U.S. newspaper based in Biloxi, Mississippi, that serves readers along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The paper's current executive editor and general manager is Blake Kaplan, and its headquarters is in the city of Gulfpo ...

'' (Biloxi, MS), September 29, 2011. Soon, people arrived by the hundreds to camp near the natural spring and use the water for drinking and bathing. Andrew Ramsey, an heir to the property, and A. Baldwin developed the spring and later sold out to Dr. George McHenry and George Bustin, who promoted the spring water as a cure for stomach ulcers and skin diseases. An analysis of the spring water, made by the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...

, listed eight chemicals, plus a small amount of

radium Radium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in alkaline earth metal, group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, ...

. In the 1890s, a pamphlet advertised the advantages of Ramsey Mineral Springs water. The water was publicized for treating skin disorders, blood and bowel diseases, and liver and kidney complaints. Through the years, ownership of the property changed hands, and around 1920, a hotel was constructed by the Miller family. The 25- to 35-room hotel was situated about one-quarter mile (0.4 kilometer) from the spring and Red Creek. As word spread, more and more visitors came to Ramsey Springs for its resort atmosphere. Guests relaxed and enjoyed home-cooked dinners and other accommodations in the rustic hotel. The hotel's interior was decorated with curious timbers, pine cones, and taxidermy specimens from the local forest. The huge lobby had a large, cobblestone fireplace and a ceiling of cypress logs that supported the upper floors. On the grounds of the hotel was a swimming pool that contained clear, cold water from the natural spring. During the first half of the 20th century, Ramsey Springs Hotel was booked solid by

Mississippi Gulf Coast The Mississippi Gulf Coast, also known as Mississippi Coast, Mississippi Gulf Coast region, Coastal Mississippi, and The Coast, is the area of Mississippi along the Mississippi Sound at the northern extreme of the Gulf of Mexico. Geography At t ...

residents as a weekend and vacation retreat. Interest in Ramsey Springs Hotel waned after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, because the Mississippi Gulf Coast, from Gulfport to

, experienced development of motels and hotels and construction of a sandy beach-front along the shore of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

, which was paralleled by

U.S. Highway 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. It generally travels near Int ...

. In 1961, the Ramsey Springs Hotel was demolished. Fifty years later, the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain acquired 57 acres (23 hectares) of the Ramsey homestead property and conveyed it to the State of Mississippi with an understanding that the property would be dedicated to conservation and managed for public-use because of its ecological, cultural, and scenic significance.

Civilian Conservation Corps

On June 21, 1935, CCC Camp F-16 opened in the Ramsey Springs Community. The camp was located on property owned by Joseph Hilliard Cain, Sr., which he leased to the Civilian Conservation Corps for $75. By 1942, the CCC program was disbanded nationwide as many enrollees entered military service following the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

Education

*The Ramsey Springs community is served by the Stone County School District.

Transportation

*The Ramsey Springs community is served by

Mississippi Highway 15 Mississippi Highway 15 (MS 15) is a state highway in Mississippi. At almost , it is the longest highway in the Mississippi Highway System. MS 15 is divided into two sections due to a large gap between Stone County and Perry County. The south ...

Gallery

Image:RamseySpringsHotel_1.jpg, Ramsey Springs Hotel, circa 1930. Image:RamseySpringsPool.jpg, Ramsey Springs Hotel Pool, circa 1930. Image:RamseyHotelPool.JPG, Remnant of Ramsey Springs Hotel Pool, 2010. Image:Red_Creek.jpg, Red Creek, as viewed looking west from MS Highway 15 bridge, 2010. Image:RedCreekEast.JPG, Red Creek, as viewed looking east from MS Highway 15 bridge, 2010.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Mississippi Unincorporated communities in Stone County, Mississippi Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area