Fort Christanna, a wooden structure built in 1714 under the auspices of Alexander Spotswood and the Virginia Indian Company, stood nearby to the south. Members of the Meiponsky, Occaneechi, Saponi, Stuckenock, and Tutelo Indian tribes lived within the fort and built a nearby settlement. The fort included a frontier trading post, and the English operated a school there to educate and convert the Indians to Christianity. The Virginia Indian Company was dissolved in 1717, and funding for the garrison ceased the next year. By 1740 the Indian groups no longer lived at the fort but had migrated to other areas nearby in the region.