West Carroll Parish

There is a whisper that comes on the breeze in West Carroll Parish. It’s difficult to make out the words, but it seems to come from ancient voices, and the sense of it is: “We were here.” Here, more than 1,000 years before the birth of Christ, a Native American people constructed an enormous earthworks project spanning 400 acres. They used materials gathered from hundreds of miles away, across the South and Midwest. The question is, why? The mystery takes shape at the Poverty Point State Historic Site. West Carroll Parish was originally part of a larger “Carroll Parish.” During Reconstruction, the two parts were divided to address political differences. The parish is bordered and striped from north to south by abundant waterways: Bayou Colewa, Bayou Maçon and the Boeuf River. In the town of Oak Grove, there are several events on the calendar, including gospel and blue grass festivals.