History of Poverty Point
Source: West Carroll Gazette 21 Oct 1992
Submitter: Carolyn Pevytoe Avery  OCT 2001




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THE HISTORY OF POVERTY POINT NOW UNCOVERED

Poverty Point Commemorative Area was established in 1972 when
the state of Louisiana bought 400 acres of land from R.F. Marsdon.

Poverty Point was first recorded in archeological material in 1873
by SAMUEL LOCKETT.  No one is sure when the first site was first 
noticed, but it received it's name from a plantation located north
of the site.

According to NANCY CLENDENEN, Curator at Poverty Point Commemora-
tive Area, the owneer of the plantation was PHILLIP GUIER. GUIER
and his wife SARAH settled in Northeast Louisiana in 1832.  He and
his wife moved from Kentucky to the Lake Providence area.

An 1843 plat map showed that GUIER, who acquired the land from the
MOTLEY family, owned only part of the land that is now the Poverty
Point site. Eventually GUIER owned the whole site.

In 1851, the plantation became know as Poverty Point. Names like
Poverty Point and "Hard Times Plantation" refelcted the early 
lives of some of these farmers. It is speculated that GUIER was
having a hard time making money as a farmer, but in 1860 records,
he is shown as having $120,000 cash value.  The guess is that 
GUIER was land poor, that is he had too much land to farm.

Although GUIER and his wife SARAH never lived on the Poverty 
Point Plantation, she is buried on a mound on the south end
of the Poverty Point site.  The mound is known as SARAH'S HILL"
because of SARAH.

The Bayou played an important part in the history of the site. In 
the 1800's steamboats paddled up and down the Bayou to pick up
cotton.  This site is believed to be a commonly used ford because
of the gentle slope in the Bayou found here.

Another form of transportation that was found in this area was an
old stage coach trail that leads through Mound C.  The old trail
 was once called the Mason Trace and ran from Old Floyd down to
Jackson Ford.  During the Civil War, the calvary units would use
the trail to run up and down the Bayou.  Evidence of a skirmish 
were found at the Jackson Ford.

The Poverty Point site covers anywhere from 1200 - 1500 acres.  
lThe land had been cultivated from 1843-1972.  For many years
artifacts had been found by farmers.  This lead to the large number 
of artifact collections that were amassed.