(A few short blocks north – or “up” the bayou – from the Rienzi Plantation oaks, you’ll see two aged oaks on your right as you pull up to the stoplight at the Canal Street bridge. They are growing in a small green space between the CVS drug store parking lot and the highway.)
These two ancient moss-draped oaks grow on land that is currently part of the highway right-of-way property.
It’s possible that these two oaks were planted in the early 1800s when Henry S. Thibodaux received a land grant for the property from the Spanish Governor of the Louisiana territory. When the part of the property at the intersection of Bayou Road (Hwy 308) and North Canal Blvd. was being developed in the 1990s, local residents successfully fought for the preservation of these two old oaks. And though they have not been registered with the Live Oak Society, they are a familiar landmark at this major Thibodaux intersection.
When Mrs. Winona Graham was growing up and living in the workers quarters on Rienzi Plantation, she used to walk by these two oaks on her way to school and into Thibodaux. To tease her, her older brothers told her that there were Civil War soldiers buried under these trees, so she avoided walking past the old oaks after dark.
The Lafourche Live Oak Tour was created through the generous support of Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism. For more information on Lafourche Parish events and activities, visit their website at LACajunBayou.com.