[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 26, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E782-E783]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING CITY OF DIAMONDHEAD, MISSISSIPPI ON THEIR 10TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. STEVEN M. PALAZZO

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 26, 2022

  Mr. PALAZZO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the city of 
Diamondhead, Mississippi on the 10th anniversary of its incorporation.
  Diamondhead received its charter as the 111th city in Mississippi by 
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann on February 6, 2012. Much of the 
land that would ultimately become Diamondhead was purchased by Walter 
Gex Sr., in 1937 from the Gulf State Paper Company and the Easy Opener 
Bag Company. In the late 1960s, the Diamondhead Corporation, with 
interests in resort developments, developed Diamondhead on the 
Mississippi Gulf Coast, with Diamondhead as its first project because 
the land is the highest point of elevation in the area. Therefore, the 
project was named ``Diamondhead'' after an iconic volcanic cone on the 
Hawaiian island of Oahu.
  On October 25, 1961, NASA announced the formation of the Mississippi 
Test Facility, now the John C. Stennis Space Center. The center would 
border the Pearl River in Hancock County. Along with the center's 
construction an influx of government workers and contractors moved into 
the area. The community experienced additional growth as other 
enterprises arrived including the Naval Oceanographic Office at Stennis 
Space Center and

[[Page E783]]

the Michaud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East.
  Diamondhead was initially organized as a property owners association 
(POA) but on January 1, 1985, the Purcell Company (formerly the 
Diamondhead Corporation) turned over the POA to a homeowners board of 
directors. Following Hurricane Katrina, the POA experienced hardships 
that led to the need for added federal and state financial resources. 
Therefore in 2009, a vote for Diamondhead to become a city was filed 
with the Hancock Chancery Court, and an election approved the 
incorporation.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to recognize the visionaries and 
homeowners of Diamondhead who worked tirelessly to bring Diamondhead to 
what it is today, ``a Community Where the Living is Easy''.

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