Lafayette area – Rebekah Oak and La Belle Colline Oak

November 2, 2015January 3, 2020 / williamguion / Leave a comment

I’ve tracked down some wonderful 30-something oaks since my last blog post. The two oaks in this post are in the Acadiana area and were listed in the Trees Acadiana’s Top 10 oldest oaks list, but were a bit challenging to track down. No one had seen them in decades. The Rebekah Oak in Breaux Bridge was originally registered with the Live Oak Society by Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Dermenstein Sr., probably back in the 1960s based on the tree’s low registration number (#681).

Rebekah Oak, color study 5 – 34′ in circumference

When registered, the Rebekah Oak was listed with a girth of 30 ft. Today, the tree is approximately 30′ to 34′ in circumference, though the “bustle” shape of the tree’s trunk below about 5-6 ft. high makes it difficult to get an accurate measurement.

The Rebekah Oak was named after the granddaughter of the original sponsors.
Mr. Dermenstein passed on in 2001 and his wife followed him in 2014. Today, the oak’s caretaker is R.J. Dermenstein Jr. who still lives on the property where the tree is located in Breaux Bridge and could easily be mistaken for Kris Kringle on a Harley Davidson if you didn’t know better.

Rebekah Oak, infrared black and white study 4

The oak appears to have been a “boundary” oak, meaning it served as a dividing marker between two property lines. The fence line between the Dermenstein property and his neighbor’s land runs directly through the Rebekah Oak’s trunk.

The next 30-foot girth tree in the Acadiana area is the La Belle Colline Oak.

I photographed La Belle Colline (in French, the name means “the lovely hill”) about an hour after sunrise in late September. This ancient oak overlooks a lush grassy pasture that slopes slowly away toward a distant line of trees where I could see cows grazing.

True to its name, La Belle Colline offered a beautiful view from beneath its wide-spread limbs toward what I suppose can be considered a “hill” in south Louisiana. Based on its location, and the intersection of four fence lines near the oak, it was probably used as a boundary marker years ago to designate where one property line ended and another began. The oak was registered with the Live Oak Society (#2219) by Camille Durand “Mamille” Johnson-Foret, and the land where the tree resides has been in the Johnson family for several generations.

La Belle Colline and distant “hill”

Mrs. Johnson-Foret was the stepmother of St. Martinsville arborist, Jim Foret who I’ve mentioned in past blog posts (Jim helped me to measure and photograph the St. John Cathedral Oak back in August of this year). Jim is an excellent arborist and resource for information on the care and maintenance of old oaks as well as a great tree-friend.

Edna Szymoniak Oak (Hammond) and Lorenzo Dow Oak (Grangeville)

September 8, 2015July 4, 2021 / williamguion / Leave a comment

Oaks east of Acadiana
It was while working on the photographs of Trees Acadiana’s top 10 live oaks that I had the inspiration to extend my search from Acadiana to include the largest and oldest live oaks I could locate across Louisiana.

Edna Szymoniak Oak—Number 3 on my 30-something list is the Edna Szymoniak Oak, located at the entrance to the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Center. Nestled in pine and oak woods about six miles from the city of Hammond, at 21549 Old Covington Highway, the station covers approximately 150 acres of research gardens. It is a beautiful example of a well-cared-for old oak. Its location makes it easy for Research Center visitors to view and it receives the regular protection and care of the AgCenter’s knowledgeable staff.

At 35 ft. 6 inches in circumference, I feel the Edna Szymoniak Oak probably gets far less recognition than it deserves as one of Louisiana’s oldest and largest live oaks. Not much is known about its history prior to the establishment of the Hammond Ag Center, but in this area of the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain, there are numerous ancient live oaks, including the Seven Sisters Oak in Mandeville. In a recent Times Picayune article of historic live oaks within a short distance of New Orleans, the Edna Oak wasn’t even included.

The Edna Szymoniak oak is named after the wife of Boleslaus “Bill” Szymoniak, the first superintendent of the research center station. (From their website) “Established in 1922 as the Fruit and Truck Experiment Station, the LSU AgCenter Hammond has traditionally served the strawberry and vegetable industries.

Today, the AgCenter’s focus is landscape horticulture, including plant selection, fertility, weed control and plant growth regulators. Scientists evaluate more than 500 ornamental plants per year and each spring and fall release a list of “Super Plants” that grow well in all parts of Louisiana.

Lorenzo Dow Oak—The next oak on my list has an interesting story connected to its name—the Lorenzo Dow Oak, located near Grangeville, LA.

Lorenzo Dow Oak study; 36′-8″; Grangeville, LA

The oak is named after Lorenzo Dow, who (according to Wikipedia) was an eccentric itinerant American preacher who lived between 1777 and 1834. He reportedly preached to more people than any other preacher of his time. Dow traveled widely around the U.S. preaching “against atheism, deism, Calvinism and Universalism.” Though he lived like a pauper, traveling mostly on foot with only the clothes on his back and a box of bibles, Dow was also a successful author. His autobiography was at one time the second most-read book, exceeded only by the bible.

Lorenzo Dow Oak, Masonic Lodge Oak 2 and corner of lodge building.

Dow traveled to this part of the South in 1803–1804 and probably preached in or near the Grangeville area. His dramatic fire-and-brimstone evangelical preaching style (he shouted, screamed, begged, flattered, cried and challenged his listeners and their beliefs) drew crowds wherever he spoke. His wide influence and popularity resulted in many children of this period being named after him as well as this ancient oak.

Lorenzo Dow Oak, black-and-white infrared study.

Because he was often unwelcome in churches, Dow would preach wherever he could—in town halls, farmers’ barns, open fields and possibly even under the overhanging branches of these two old oaks.

The sprawling and partially overgrown Lorenzo Dow Oak is located on the grounds of the Grangeville Masonic Lodge #231, along with a second neighboring oak that is 27 feet 11 inches in girth.

The lodge is one of the oldest Masonic groups in Louisiana, with a membership that dates back to 1889, and a lodge building that was originally constructed in the 1930s (and is currently being restored).

This oak was especially challenging to find since its location on the Live Oak Society registry was simply “East Feliciana.” Grangeville is actually in St. Helena Parish, a few miles west of Pine Grove in a northeastern corner of Louisiana, east of St. Francisville (though in the early part of the 1900s many people referred to this area of Louisiana as the “Florida Parishes and referred to east and west Feliciana as just the “Felicianas.” I finally found online snapshots of someone who had visited the Grangeville Masonic Lodge and so wrote a letter to the lodge and finally located the old oak.

NOTE: Though, “northeastern” may not seem accurate to those living around Grangeville, since it is due east of St. Francisville which is in the middle of the state. Grangeville is located in the northeastern corner of the “toe” of Louisiana’s boot shape that sticks into Mississippi and is only a few miles directly south of McComb, MS. Grangeville is positioned where the boot laces would be on the toe of the boot shape.

Louisiana’s oldest oaks – older than America

September 7, 2015August 9, 2025 / williamguion / 1 Comment

Oaks with 30-something feet girth
In 2015, I marked 30 years that of photographing live oaks of Louisiana and 10 years since I began the 100 Oaks Project (documenting the 100 oldest oaks in Louisiana). Because of these milestones, I decided to devote 2015 to tracking down the very oldest living live oaks in Louisiana—those trees with girths of 30 feet or more. I was already familiar with a few of the more well-known oaks in this size range, but most were still on my longer list of “trees yet to find.”

Stonaker Oak – near New Roads, LA; 29 ft. 6 in; #16 on original Live Oak Society inductee list.

To compile my list, I included all Society member trees with a circumference of 26’ feet or greater when registered. I knew from experience and from discussions with arborists that mature oaks have an average growth rate of 1” to 1.5” per year. In a half-century, a healthy live oak can easily grow three to four feet in circumference. This narrowed my search to fewer than 30 oaks in Louisiana that could potentially be in the 30-foot girth range.

Before America was America—According to several Louisiana arborists I consulted, oaks of this size are probably between 400 and 500 years of age (add another 100 years or more to this estimate for those oaks with a girth greater than 35 feet). That means these live oaks were likely growing before Europeans settled this continent (the earliest colony was established in 1565 by the Spanish in St. Augustine, Florida; Jamestown, Virginia, was established in 1607). Some were quite possibly growing before the name “America” was first used in print in 1507 as a designation for this continent—in other words, Before America was America.

Seven Sisters color 4_7x13 copy — The Seven Sisters Oak, Lewisburg/Mandeville – National Champion

The 30-something club—One New Orleans arborist I contacted about a tree’s location jokingly suggested I call my list the “30-something club.” So, I’ve incorporated that into the title of this blog entry as well and have included in this list oaks that are almost 30 feet in girth (29′-6″ or greater). To me, these venerable oaks should be recognized as cultural and historical landmarks and deserve a more significant place in public awareness—and even some minimal protection that would allow them to live to whatever ripe old age a live oak can live.

Edna Szymoniak Oak, Hammond, LA (35 ft. 8 in. in girth)

Live oak protection—Tragically, several of the oldest oaks on the Society’s registry have died, fallen off the grid of public awareness or even been removed. It’s important to note that it’s only through public awareness and human interest that a tree’s survival is secured. Currently, there are no state laws in Louisiana to protect historic or heritage trees and only spotty local ordinances that offer any protection from human removal. I’ll cover this in detail in a future blog entry.

Randall Oak, New Roads, LA (36 ft. 7in. girth)

Lorenzo Dow Oak, Grangeville, LA (36 ft. 8 in. girth)

In the next few blog entries, I’ll be documenting my search during 2015 to find these 30-something live oaks. More photos of the oldest oaks can be found at this blog entry here…

Here are the trees in order of size:

Seven Sisters Oak – Lewisburg / Mandeville; 39′-10″
Randall Oak – New Roads; 35′-8″
Edna Szymoniak Oak – Hammond; 35′-6″
Lorenzo Dow Oak – Grangeville; 35′-5″
La Belle Coline Oak – Between Sunset and Carencro; 34’+
The Governor’s Oak – Baton Rouge; 33′-3″
Lastrapes Oak (Seven Brothers Oak) – Washington; 32′-3″ (largest section)
Boudreaux Friendship Oak – Scott; 31′-10″
Lagarde Oak – Luling; 30′-11″
Mays Oak – Near Rosedale; 30′-11″
Blanchet Oak – Lafayette; 30′-7″
Grosse Tete Oak – Bayou Grosse Tete; 30′-2″
Etienne de Bore’ Oak – Audubon Park, New Orleans; 30′
Grenier Oak – Near Thibodaux; 29′-9″
Josephine A. Stewart Oak – Vacherie; 29′-11″
St. John’s Cathedral Oak – Lafayette; 29′-6″
Stonaker Oak – New Roads; 29′-6″
The John Hudson Oak – Prairieville, LA; 29′-6″

(This list has been updated as of December 2020)

As I continue locating and measuring additional oaks through this year, I may expand this 30-something list, but as of September, these are the oaks I’ve personally measured and confirmed to be 29′-6″ or larger.

NOTE: I’ve found a few oaks with girths stated to be larger than 29 feet on the Live Oak Society registry. However, when I measured them, their sizes were smaller. I suspect they were simply mismeasured. Those oaks are not on this list but will be mentioned in my blog entries that follow because they are still very old trees and fit into my larger 100 oldest oaks list.

A bit of background—For those readers who are new to this blog, my wife Cyndi and I began the 100 Oaks Project after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita swept across Louisiana in 2005. We started with the 43 original inductee trees listed by Dr. Edwin L. Stephens in a 1934 article he wrote for the Louisiana Conservation Review titled “In Louisiana, I saw a Live Oak Growing” (a PDF copy of that article is contained in the “Pages” section of this blog).

Dr. Stephen’s original intent was to establish an organization “to promote the culture, distribution, and appreciation of the live oak.” Members were originally limited to oaks that were at least 100 years of age, determined by a circumference of 17 feet or more, though he revised these requirements to allow registration of “junior-league” oaks with a minimum circumference of eight feet.

The Two Cleveland’s

June 20, 2015September 7, 2015 / williamguion / Leave a comment

The “Two Clevelands”

Joseph Jefferson was a famous American actor through the mid-1800s and was most well known for his role as Rip Van Winkle in the dramatic stage version of Washington Irving’s story. In 1869, Jefferson bought a property in Louisiana that had been previously called Cote Carlin, Miller’s Island and then Orange Island (for a large grove of orange trees growing there at the time).¹ Jefferson was a passionate outdoorsman, fisherman, hunter and painter. His intent in purchasing the Island property was to create a retreat from the harsh New England winters where he might enjoy fishing and hunting in the relatively mild climate of south Louisiana.

In 1870, he built his winter home on the highest point of the Island in the midst of an ancient grove of live oak trees (the home is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places). He originally named the 22-room mansion “Bob Acres” after his favorite acting role. The home’s design incorporates a variety of architectural influences including Moorish, Steamboat Gothic, French and Southern Plantation styles and features a fourth-story cupola.

Cleveland Oak and Jefferson home, Jefferson Island

In his role as actor, Jefferson made many friends in the arts, and in business and politics including President Grover Cleveland. In 1892, between Cleveland’s first and second presidential terms, he visited Jefferson at his home on Jefferson Island. During this visit, the President also visited the surrounding areas including nearby Avery Island. As a result of this visit, two ancient oaks, one on Jefferson Island and one on Avery Island, were named in the President’s honor – thus the “Two Cleveland’s.”

Grover Cleveland Oak, Jefferson Island, study 1

The Grover Cleveland Oak on Jefferson Island with a girth of 24′-8″ can be seen as one reaches the split in the entrance road where to the left is the entrance to the gardens, gift shop and restaurant, and to the right is the entrance to the Jefferson mansion driveway. The above photo is a view of the old oak from the expansive lawn in front of the Jefferson home.

Placque at the roots of Cleveland Oak, Jefferson Island

The Grover Cleveland Oak on Avery Island today has the largest girth of any other oak on the Island at almost 25 feet (though according to Ken and Andy Ringle who grew up on the Island, there was once a much larger oak on their grandmother’s property with a girth of more than 30 feet).

Grover Cleveland Oak, Avery Island

A funny anecdote I heard about President Cleveland’s 1892 trip was that he asked to speak to some of the “common people” – the workers on the Island – during his visit. Upon entering one black woman’s home he saw a picture of himself, a presidential portrait hung on the wall. He supposedly asked the woman if she knew who it was a picture of and she replied that it was “General Robert E. Lee.” The president left without correcting her.

Grover Cleveland Oak, Avery Island, study 2

There is an excellent history of the development of “Rip Van Winkle Gardens” at the Jefferson Island/Rip Van Winkle Gardens’ website.

More information about the Cleveland Oak at Avery Island Jungle Gardens can be found in another post on this blog: Live Oak Society oaks at Avery Island’s Jungle Gardens.

Footnotes:
¹ Jefferson Island is actually one of five major salt domes or plugs that rise above the grassy marshlands and prairies around it (other salt dome islands in Louisiana include Avery Island, Weeks Island, Côte Blanche and Belle Isle). Source: Louisiana; a Guide to the State, by Best Books on Louisiana, created by the Federal Writers’ Project, 1941

Acadiana’s Top 10 Live Oaks

June 6, 2015June 27, 2021 / williamguion / 3 Comments

I just returned from an oak hunting trip through Acadiana to locate the ten oldest live oaks in the area in and around Lafayette, Louisiana. The local tree conservation group, Trees Acadiana, began tracking the oldest area live oaks in the past few years, asking their members and friends to submit favorite old oaks for consideration.

Several of the oaks on Trees Acadiana’s list are from the Live Oak Society’s database of trees that have been registered in the area over the past 75 years. And unfortunately, a few of these trees haven’t been seen or re-measured since they were registered decades ago. In the early days, when trees were registered with the Live Oak Society, details of their location were often minimal – sometimes registration was on a small note card and included only the town or parish where an oak was growing along with the sponsor’s name. Now, two generations later, original sponsors have passed on, properties have changed hands, and the memory of a specific old oak can be pretty fuzzy with local residents.

A few of the oaks on the Trees Acadiana list are near or greater than 30 feet in circumference. This is significant in that there are less than 30 live oaks in Louisiana (that I’ve found) of this size and age. And how old is a 30-foot oak? Age estimates vary, but according to Lafayette area arborist Jim Foret, who has extensive experience with Louisiana live oaks, the most likely estimate is between 400 and 500 years of age. An oak’s size can be influenced by how rich the soil is in which it’s growing, its access to water, and environmental influences like pollution and incursion by foot or vehicle traffic that can impact its root system.

Still, that means 30-foot oaks were possibly mature before Europeans began settling this country – before America was America. For that reason alone, these elder trees should have a more significant place in the cultural and historic awareness of our population, with some minimal protection for them to live to whatever ripe old age a live oak can live. That’s why local organizations like Trees Acadiana are dedicated to reminding people of the importance of live oaks and other trees for the health and beauty of a community.

My goal on this recent trip was to find and verify as many of these top 10 oaks as possible, and share my photos, locations, and new measurements with the folks from Trees Acadiana for their record keeping.

Here’s their top 10 list and a summary of my photos and findings from the trip:

#1 Boudreaux Friendship Oak, Scott, LA (31' 10

Boudreaux Friendship Oak (31′ 10″) Scott, LA

#2 The Blanchet Oak (30′ 7″) Lafayette, LA

(In Sept. 2019, the Lafayette Daily Advertiser newspaper ran a story stating that the Blanchet Oak is “inches away from being the biggest live oak recorded in Acadiana.” The largest oak is the Boudreaux Friendship Oak. The photo below is from that story.)

Screen Shot 2021-06-27 at 8.36.47 AM

La Belle Colline v 8

#3 La Belle Colline Oak (30’+) – Between Carencro and Sunset, LA – Location was verified by Lafayette area arborist Jim Foret.

Cathedra Oak morning_pano study 11

#4 St. John the Evangelist Cathedral Oak – 29′ 6″

#5 Pete Broussard Oak (28′ 6″) – Near Breaux Bridge, LA; unable to locate. No picture available.

#6 Robbins Oak (28′ 2″) Lafayette, LA

#7 Lady Suzan Oak – Near Breaux Bridge, LA (Located oak that is reported to be Lady Suzan, but the measurement was much smaller than when it was registered.)

#8 Robert Earl Sr. Oak (28′ 6″) Lafayette, LA

#9 Rhett Butler Oak (27′ 2″) – Lafayette; located tree but was unable to photograph.

#10 Hooper O’Day Oak (25′ 5″) – Lafayette; located tree but was unable to photograph.

Many thanks to Sarah Schoeffler and Theresa Rohloff with Trees Acadiana for all of their help locating these oaks, and special thanks to Jim Foret for gaining access to the Cathedral Oak and for arriving at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday to help measure the tree.

100 Oaks Project

A photo-documentary of the 100 oldest live oaks in Louisiana

Author: williamguion