(The Faucheaux and Constant Oaks are located at 649 Highway 308, about three miles south of downtown Thibodaux traveling toward Raceland and 3/4 mile past the Laurel Valley Village.)
The Faucheaux Oak (on the left in the photo above) is one of the older oaks along Bayou Lafourche with a girth of 26 ft, 10 inches. It is approximately 250 to 300 years old. The Constant Oak to the right is younger with a girth of 21 ft. 6 inches and an approximate age of maybe 150 to 200 years.
The Faucheaux Oak is an early member of the Live Oak Society – #425 on the Society registry and was registered in the 1970s. The tree is named for Prudent Faucheaux Sr., whose family lived in the Creole-style cottage situated behind the old oaks from 1932 to 1978. Before that, the Faucheaux family leased the land to grow rice, which was the second most common agricultural crop along the bayou at the time. Mr. Prudent Faucheaux, Jr. was a former postmaster in Thibodaux.
In ithe late 1970s, the home and property were acquired by Nelson and Lena Constant. The Constant Oak (in the foreground of the black-and-white photo above) is named after the Constant family who still owns the home and property today.
According to one Constant family member, Confederate troops made camp around the oaks and cannonballs were found recently indicating they may have left hastily from their camp.
There are several unregistered oaks you’ll notice on either side of this location that are within a similar age range as the Constant Oak (approximately 200 years old). It’s likely they were all planted during the same time period (the late 1700s to early 1800s) as this stretch on the east bank of Bayou Lafourche was settled.
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.