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Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve
Address: 419 Decatur St
New Orleans, LA 70130
Phone: 504-589-2636
Fax: 504-589-3851
Overview. New Orleans likes her heroes mysterious. That's why Jean Lafitte, pirate and smuggler, is remembered as a controversial figure in the Crescent City. With his band of outlaws, the Baratarians, Lafitte hid out in the bayous and ran his contraband right under the noses of authorities for decades. In 1815, Lafitte's Baratarians helped Andrew Jackson win the Battle of New Orleans, the War of 1812's largest land victory. Today, Jean Lafitte lends his name to a series of National Park Service sites honoring the cultural diversity of the Louisiana Mississippi Delta region and the culture of the Acadians, or "Cajuns," who settled in the area in the 18th century and, to this day, help give Louisiana its unique flavor.What to see and do. Several separate sites make up the park: The French Quarter visitor center, serves as the park's headquarters; the Chalmette Battlefield, six miles southeast of the city, preserves the site of the Battle of New Orleans; the Barataria Preserve unit near Marrero encompasses thousands of acres of marshes; and the Acadian unit, actually comprised of five separate sites with its main location in Lafayette, celebrates "Cajun" culture. Located at 419 Decatur St. in the French Quarter, the visitor center offers three programs. The tours accommodate 30 people on a first-come, first-served basis. You'll find the center open each day from 9 AM to 5 PM. The Chalmette Battlefield, which preserves the battlefield where Jackson's troops routed the British on January 8, 1815, is a popular stop on Mississippi cruising trips. It is also an easy drive from New Orleans along the St. Bernard Highway. Besides the battlefield, which can be toured by car along a 1.5-mile route, Beauregard House, a Greek Revival plantation house, has an extensive array of exhibits about the region's history. Rangers recount the details of the Battle of New Orleans in daily talks and living history demonstrations. On the weekend of January 8, troops once again gather on the battlefield to commemorate the decisive American victory. The center is open from 8 AM to 5 PM daily. The Barataria Preserve, located on the West Bank right across the Mississippi from New Orleans, contains close to 20,000 acres of marsh, cypress swamp, and hardwood forest. You can stroll along the trails and boardwalk that wind for eight miles through the preserve, or, if you brought along your pirogue, you can ply your way through more than 20 miles of waterways. The visitor center has exhibits about life on the bayou and the natural history of the area. Nature walks and canoe trips are regularly scheduled. The center is open from 9 AM to 5 PM daily. The Acadian site's in Lafayette, Eunice, and Thibodaux enlighten and entertain visitors with their emphasis on "Cajun" culture. Each site holds craft and cooking demonstrations, as well as rousing musical programs where everyone can laissez les bon temps roulez. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, ride with the park's ranger and volunteers for a unique educational program on board Amtrak's Sunset Limited, The Crescent, and City of New Orleans. Rangers and volunteers present programs on the region's cultural and natural history.
Poverty Point National Monument
PO Box 276 c/o Poverty Point State Commemorative Area
Epps, LA 71237
Phone: 318-926-5492 or 888-926-5492
Fax: 318-926-5492
Overview. Until man took to the air, no one imagined these earthen ridges in northeastern Louisiana were anything other than natural features. From above, however, the ridges proved to be six rows suggesting an unfinished octagon and four mounds, clearly the work of man. The most spectacular, Poverty Point Mound, is a 700-by-800-foot bird effigy, and rises to a height of 70 feet. Archaeologists think the ridges once stood five to ten feet high, and might have served as foundations for dwellings, but no one knows for sure. Mound "B," 20 feet tall and conical, was built over a crematory, but there is no evidence that the mounds were burial sites. No matter what their original use, these earthworks reveal the existence of a highly sophisticated culture. Built between 700 and 1700 B.C., it is estimated that more than five million man-hours were required to construct what may be the earliest permanent residential site in the United States. Artifacts recovered at Poverty Point reveal that the prehistoric Indians who lived here traded with other groups from as far away as the Appalachian Mountains and what is now Michigan. In fact, archaeologists speculate that the site was a trading center where raw materials were collected and distributed to manufacturing sites in other locations. Thousands of artificial "cooking stones" fashioned out of local clay have been found at the site, as well as the imprints of cane baskets and animal-skin pouches used to bring in earth to construct the ridges and mounds. Other discoveries include fiber-tempered pottery, microlithic stone tools, steatite bowls, and stone beads, some of which are carved to resemble birds. What to see and do. The site is administered by the state of Louisiana as Poverty Point State Commemorative Area, and features a museum, hiking trails, picnic areas, and guided tours (in season). There are over 1,000 artifacts on display at the museum, which also offers an informative video presentation. From Easter until Labor Day, a guided tram tour ferries visitors to and from the most significant points of interest at the site. Two self-guided trails wind through Poverty Point, as well. If you're in the area in late September, you might want to stop by Poverty Point's celebration of Louisiana Archaeology Week and take in demonstrations of earth-oven cooking and flint-knapping. The monument/commemorative area is open from 9 AM to 5 PM all year. It is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.
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