Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Kiln, MS

Kiln is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hancock County, Mississippi, about 50 miles northeast of New Orleans, and it is part of the Gulfport-Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The 2020 census recorded 2,224 residents in Kiln, and the community is served by ZIP code 39556.

Kiln takes its name from the many kilns that produced tar and charcoal, known as naval stores, for the timber industry, and the name was firmly established by 1913; locals pronounce it "the Kiln" with a silent "n."

Kiln lies on the Jourdan River, and Mississippi Highways 43 and 603 are its main roads, joining Interstate 10 at Exit 13.

During the timber boom, the Jourdan River Lumber Company built a new mill in 1914 cutting 150,000 board feet a day, with about 200 mill houses, a company store, a 50-room hotel, a hospital, and a theater, and historian Samuel Grady Thigpen called it for a time the busiest community between Hattiesburg and New Orleans.

The mill cut out and was dismantled in February 1930, and by the mid-1930s Kiln had become a near ghost town.

During Prohibition, Kiln was known as the "Moonshine Capital of the World," with at least 50 stills operating in the late 1920s, while Mississippi's statewide prohibition lasted from 1908 to 1966.

When Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, at least 30 feet of floodwater reached the area, yet Kiln was spared the worst of the storm and served as a major reconstruction point for Bay St. Louis and Waveland.

The oldest house in Kiln was built in 1859 by Samuel L. Favre near Annunciation Catholic Church.

A football-shaped welcome sign in Kiln honors former resident Brett Favre.