Fort Maurepas
1699 French settlement in southeastern USA
Fort Maurepas, later known as Old Biloxi,
was a fort developed in colonial French Louisiana (New France) in April 1699 along the Gulf of Mexico (at present-day Ocean Springs, Mississippi).
Fort Maurepas was designated temporarily as the capital of Louisiana (New France) in 1699. The capital was moved from Ocean Springs to Mobile (in present-day Alabama) in 1710, then to New Orleans in 1723 on the Mississippi River. Government buildings in the latter city were still under construction.
Toponymy
The military camp was known in French as Fort Maurepas to honor Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas from the city of Maurepas. The name Biloxi in French was spelled Bilocci, in a transliteration of the name of the local Native American tribe. It appeared as "Fort Bilocci" on English maps updated circa the years 1710/1725.
French Louisiana (part of New France) was known in French as La Louisiane in colonial times. In modern times it is referred to as La Louisiane française to distinguish it from the modern state of Louisiana (also "Louisiane" in French).
History
The fort was completed on May 1, 1699 under direction of French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, who sailed for France on May 4.
The public source identifies “Fort Maurepas” as 1699 French settlement in southeastern USA. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fort, Maurepas and French.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Fort Maurepas”, the useful work is to connect “1699 French settlement in southeastern USA” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3077941. Authority coordinates are 30.406, -88.829. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1699, 1710, 1723 and 1725.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Fort Maurepas”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Fort Maurepas primary sources, Fort Maurepas archive and Fort research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fort Maurepas”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Fort Maurepas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.