Founded in 1812 and named for John Hancock, Hancock County, Mississippi, has a long, colorful history dating back to the early French explorers, and today encompasses the exploration of space. Lifestyles reflect a diversity of cultures, and heritage is celebrated through festivals, fairs, food and architecture. While maintaining these generations' old traditions, residents welcome the progress introduced by new commercial activity.

The year of its birth, 1963, was a year of optimism for the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission, predecessor of the Hancock County Development Commission. The huge NASA rocket testing center was under construction, and construction work of all types was at record highs. Hancock County residents had begun to think big. A barge and seaport did not seem to be an impractical dream.

After months of meetings and discussions, the Commission employed a nationally known engineering firm, Michael Baker Company, to conduct a study as to where and what kind of seaport and industrial park should be located in Hancock County. After months of study regarding water access, rail proximity, availability of large tracts of land, elevation of property sites, and many other considerations, the engineers' report proposed a location in western Hancock County adjacent to Mulatto Bayou on the Pearl River. Though it would require dredging a ship channel from the Pearl River and a barge channel along the northern perimeter of the industrial park, the site's advantages far outweighed any other possible location.

The period from June 1965 to November 1966 might well be the most important 18 months in the history of the Port and Harbor Commission. In this 18 months the Commission contracted for the master plan of a new airport and for engineering and design of the new industrial park at the seaport. Most important were decisions made about financing. With expenditures of millions looming on the horizon, an agreement was reached with the County's governing body, the Board of Supervisors, on methods of funding both capital projects and ongoing operational expenses.

In early November of 1966 International Paper accepted the Commission's offer for 2200 acres of land for the seaport and surrounding industrial park. Even the most enthusiastic proponent of this new industrial development in Hancock County would not have envisioned that initial investment of some $6 million would, 50 years later, have produced investments by private industry of some $1.5 billion and over 1200 jobs.

The next 18 months, from the fall of 1966 to the spring of 1968, must be regarded as the busiest 18 months in Commission history. During this time the Commission rented an office area at the rear of a local bank as its first headquarters. The Commission awarded contracts for the dredging of the ship channel and barge channel, and also for clearing and grubbing of what was then called West Hancock Industrial Park. At the airport the Commission purchased some 530 acres of land, received an FAA construction grant, and awarded the initial runway construction contract. In the spring of 1968, the Commission employed its first Executive Director, a Civil Engineer by the name of Charles Hill. It had indeed been a busy year and a half.

In1968 the Commission exercised considerable foresight when it elected to widen the barge channel at its upper end, thereby creating a much more usable "turning basin." This area is today is one of the busiest sections of channel in the Port.

Early summer of 1968 the Commission began issuing construction contracts at both West Hancock Industrial Park, the seaport and barge port which it encompassed, and the new County airport just below Texas Flat Road. To create modern industrial parks, a seaport and barge port and an airport from virtual wilderness areas required enormous amounts of clearing and grubbing, earth movement, dredging and heavy construction. It was much akin to building a small town, requiring paved roads and streets, ship channels and railroads, electricity and gas, water and sewerage systems, surveying and platting of land areas and many other amenities.

On August 17, 1969, as Hurricane Camille roared into Hancock County, the industrial park proved its worth as the flood plain level bore out the wisdom of having constructed the park at that location.

During the summer of 1969, the Commission negotiated easements with owners of land necessary for construction of the short line railroad leading from the L&N (now CSX) tracks to the new West Hancock Industrial area.

Opening ceremonies of the (then named) Gulf Central Airport - Stennis Field was held on April 26, 1970. The Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission was now 7 years old.

In April 1970 the Commission endorsed the commercial fishing marina at Bayou Cadet, a Federal project, and agreed to contribute $31,000 as the county's share of the grant. In a highly unusual reversal of roles, the Commission agreed to lend the U.S. Government the sum of $101,000 for its share of the Bayou Cadet project; the Government would repay the loan when funding was passed for the following year. The Commission also gave financial assistance to the Board of Supervisors as they planned the creation of a recreational park in the Jackson Ridge area. The Board of Supervisors exhibited unusually good vision of the future in pushing the idea of what would later become Buccaneer State Park, the most heavily visited park in the State of Mississippi and a major drawing card in Hancock County's tourism effort.

In February 1971 the Commission approved financing of its Industrial Park and Ship Channel with an EDA grant of $2,779,200 and a 30-year bond issue of $926,400. The final payment on the bond was made in May 1992, nine years ahead of schedule.

On February 4, 1971, the Commission formally adopted a resolution naming the West Hancock Industrial Area Port Bienville, in recognition of one of the French explorers who had discovered and named the Bay Saint Louis area in 1699.

Some other significant events include:

• The ship terminal was built in 1972.
• The airport name was officially changed to Stennis International Airport in January, 1975.
• The FAA approved limited passenger service at Stennis International in 1992.
• Stennis International Airport joined Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) #92 in 1992.
• The name of the Port & Harbor Commission was officially changed to the Hancock County Development Commission in January of 2009.