Mississippi Forestry Commissn

About forestry service, 70177, New Orleans, LA, US, Mississippi

Kiln is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hancock County, Mississippi, United States. The town is located about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is part of the Gulfport-Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,238 at the 2010 census. == History == === From earliest inhabitants to United States annexation === The earliest inhabitants of the area were Choctaw and Muscogee Indians, who lived along the banks of a river (later named the Jourdan River) emptying into the Bay of Saint Louis. These tribes hunted, fished, and trapped on the land prior to settlement by the French. In 1682, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, a French explorer, claimed the region for France and named it "Louisiana", in honor of King Louis XIV, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast became part of the Lower Louisiana District. Following the French claiming of the land, French settlers, many from Canada, began to move into the area surrounding modern-day Kiln. These settlers were exclusively male and were mostly hunters and trappers. The only commercial activity was in hides and pelts, which were sent to New Orleans for shipping.