Where History DID NOT Happen

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Normally I’m here showing you all these cool places I visit, many of which have historical connections. Well, today, I’m going to show you a place where it DID NOT happen. At least not the way “the legend” says it did. As the saying goes, if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes “the truth,” regardless of how many times it’s disproven. One of the most hardcore cases of that is in the photos above. That’s Henderson Park in Pass Christian, Mississippi. It’s a nice little park, complete with a walking path, signs showing the plants and birds that can be found there, and a great view of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s also where something DID NOT happen. On August 17, 1969, Hurricane Camille hit the Gulf Coast. It did $1.4 billion in damage…in 1969 dollars. The “inflation calculator” says that today the damage would be about $14.2 billion. It was a monster. It’s a legendary hurricane, with only Katrina and Andrew mentioned in the same breath. One of the targets of the land falling hurricane was Pass Christian (that’s pronounced Christy-YAN, not Christian). An apartment building, the Richelieu Apartments, was literally wiped off its foundation. A woman grabbed a news reporter the next day and claimed that 23 people had stayed for a “hurricane party,” and all were swept away. Even UNCLE WALTER (Cronkite) told this story: This is the site of the Richelieu Apartments in Pass Christian, Mississippi. This is the place where 23 people laughed in the face of death. And where 23 people died. The problem? IT DID NOT HAPPEN. Yes, the apartment complex was wiped off the map; however, there WAS no “hurricane party.” And, while 23 people did stay in the apartment building (on the third floor, as they were instructed to do by management to avoid storm surge), only eight died. The woman who started the “hurricane party” story was later convicted of murdering her husband, if that tells you anything about her credibility. The problem is, legends die hard. This has been refuted time and time again, but it’s still believed. There are no signs in this park commemorating the tragedy, because (repeat after me) it didn’t happen. An interesting side note: this area was rebuilt as a shopping center. Katrina knocked it down. It’s now a park. COLLAGE: (top) View of the Gulf from the park (bottom) Henderson Park sign Pass Christian, on the corner of Henderson Avenue and Highway 90