After Poverty Point

After Poverty Point. . It is unknown why the people of Poverty Point left this location and why it was not intensively utilized again for 1,800 years. After the Late Archaic period, American Indian use of the site was apparently intermittent, based on the sparse number of later artifacts found at the site. The construction of Mound D by the Coles Creek culture in about AD 700 is the only significant addition to the earthworks. This mound actually sits atop a Poverty Point ridge. , European explorers traveled down various waterways around Macon Ridge. However, the area was not actually settled until the early 1800s. The earliest land grants in the area were made through military service warrants to individuals who had seen action during the War of 18 12 or other military engagements. By 1837, Philip Guier owned much of the property that would eventually become Poverty Point World Heritage Site. It was probably during his tenure that the property was given the name "Poverty Point Plantation." , Confiscated Confederate maps of the area indicate that Poverty Point was abandoned during the Civil War. It eventually returned to farmland, and remained so until the State of Louisiana bought the property in 1972 and established Poverty Point as a public park. , The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 and a National Monument in 1988. In 2010, the museum was named a Smithsonian Affiliate., [Map caption]: Portion of the 1848 General Land Office survey map. Township 19 North, Range 10 East, District North of Red River. A red arrow points to the recorded landowner, Philip Guier.