The Kate Lobrano House was originally built as a store in 1896. It is a shotgun style structure featuring a side gallery. The building was donated to the Hancock County Historical Society by the grandchildren of Katherine Maynard Lobrano in 1988. This cottage now houses the extensive collections of the Society including over 30,000 photographs of Saint Louis, Pearlington, Logtown, Gainesville, Kiln, Ansley and the county in general. They are primarily late 19th century or early 20th century. 150 of them are framed and displayed on the walls of the Kate Lobrano House: the remainder is kept in the vault in albums, arranged by street address for easy access. Most of the original house is used as a turn-of-the-century museum, but a large addition to the rear provides office and storage facilities for research, lecture and social function areas.
Fun Fact: Hancock Historical Society was founded in 1977. Its quest is to research and preserve the history of Hancock County. Their ultimate goal is to consign all the written documents on Hancock County history that they can gather into a database that will provide instant access to information being sought. To this end they have gathered records from churches, schools, newspapers, magazines, local authors, the city archives, the county and many other sources.
They do not keep records of any counties other than Hancock except those which were formed from Hancock, and only to the date of their formation: Harrison prior to 1841, and Pearl River prior to 1890. (Stone County was formed out of Harrison in 1916, but any records they have pertain only to residents prior to Harrison’s formation in 1841.)
Address: 108 Cue Street
City: Bay St. Louis
County: Hancock
Phone: 228.467.40090
Website: http://hancockcountyhistoricalsociety.com/
Accessibility: accessible ramp; double doors can be opened to accommodate wheelchair