NCBC Gulfport was established in 1942 as Advance Base Depot Gulfport. The location was ideal as a shipping and construction battalion station, as the semi-tropical climate allowed year-round shipping and was similar to much of the Pacific Theater (as well as the Mediterranean Theater) where the Seabees were expected to be fighting and working.

Before the first Seabees arrived, the ABD hosted an Armed Guard School and a Cooks and Bakers School. The Seabees arrived in force in October of 1942, and established housing in temporary structures much like the ones they would later live in on deployment. After a period of training, the Seabees shipped out to pave the road across the Pacific, and the Depot became a training center for various technical ratings.

After the war, the Depot was converted to storing stockpiles of certain national resources of particular interest to the Navy, especially copper, bauxite ore, and certain textile fibers. The Depot function dramatically dropped the station population, from a wartime high of about 25,000 to a 1950s low of a few dozen.

In the mid-1950s the Seabees returned, and the Depot was renamed the Naval Construction Battalion Center. During the Cold War, especially the Vietnam War, the Navy Seabees provided construction and engineering services to US allies.

Local Gulfport community projects have also benefitted from the presence of highly skilled, highly trained Seabees; several Little League fields, parks, scout camps, and other public facilities were built with Seabee help. Throughout their tenure at Gulfport, the Seabees have found themselves responding to local hurricane disasters, most notably Hurricane Camille and Katrina.