Lake Dauterive

Lake Dauterive (HM29V6)

Location: Saint Martinville, LA 70582 St. Martin Parish
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Country: United States of America
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N 30° 6.101', W 91° 37.638'

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Inscription

1,000 Year-Old Cypress

—Atchafalaya Water Heritage Trail —

Lake Dauterive is home to one of the oldest documented cypress trees in Louisiana. The approximately 1,000-year-old tree has a circumference of 17 feet and a diameter of 5.4 feet.Though named as two separate lakes, Lake Dauterive and Lake Fausse Pointe function as one natural body of water. Lake Dauterive (located north of Lake Fausse Pointe) is just west of Bayou Chene and drains south into Lake Fausse Pointe. It was cut off from the Atchafalaya River when the Atchafalaya Basin levees were built in the 1930s. Today the lake receives runoff from surrounding lands and is relatively shallow, with depths ranging from nine or 10 feet at its deepest point to a mere 18 inches in areas of high sedimentation.

This lake is home to an approximately 1,000-year-old cypress tree—one of the oldest documented in Louisiana. This tree has a circumference of 17 feet and a diameter of 5.4 feet. It is among a group of old growth cypress that was not harvested between 1870 and 1920, when loggers clear-cut many ancient cypress groves throughout south Louisiana. The tree's age was estimated from core density of samples taken from its exterior.

In their native habitat, bald cypress trees display a peculiar habit of raising conical "knees" from their roots. The function of these growths is still a mystery, although some believe



it is a way to help the roots get oxygen or to provide stability for the tree. Unlike most conifers—which are evergreens—the bald cypress is deciduous, meaning it loses its needles in the fall. This gives the tree a "bald" appearance part of the year. An icon in southern swamps, the bald cypress is Louisiana's State Tree.

Lake Dauterive was named after A. B. Dauterive, a prominent planter who owned St. Rose de Lima Plantation (later named Caroline Plantation), once located at the lake. The Dauterive family was French and of noble descent. Their name was formerly spelled "D'Hauterive," and early accounts of the 1862 Confederate Camp Dauterive refer to the area as "deHuitreve" or "doctrive."Visit Atchafalaya.org for more information about this site. This site's geology/geomorphology: Holocene backswamp deposits of Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers.
Details
HM NumberHM29V6
Series This marker is part of the series
Tags
Placed ByState of Louisiana and National Park Service
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Tuesday, July 31st, 2018 at 10:03am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)15R E 632264 N 3330847
Decimal Degrees30.10168333, -91.62730000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 30° 6.101', W 91° 37.638'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds30° 6' 6.06" N, 91° 37' 38.28" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)337
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling North
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 3887 Par Rd 169, Saint Martinville LA 70582, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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