Cypress Tree Part of Louisiana Culture celebrated in art and products perfect for your home
July 26 is National Tree Day, a perfect moment to celebrate the trees that root us to place, memory, and history. At Jane and Lizzee, we are honoring the occasion with a wonderful collection of pieces featuring original art by Paul Shexandyer of the classic Cypress Tree.
The bald cypress has been the official state tree of Louisiana since 1963, and for good reason. Live oaks may get a lot of attention here, with their wide arms and hanging moss, but there is something especially haunting and sacred about a cypress tree standing in water. Its history in Louisiana and across the South reaches back thousands of years. It feels older than memory. It feels like Louisiana itself.
I often wonder when driving across I10 through the Atchafalaya Basin what the Atchafalaya Basin would look like today if so many of its ancient cypress trees had not been harvested. Some of these trees were hundreds of years old. Some may have been more than 1,000 years old, and a few cypress trees in Louisiana are believed to reach ages approaching 2,000 years. To stand among trees like that is to stand in the presence of time.
Before large-scale logging changed the swamps, south Louisiana and the Atchafalaya Basin were home to dense stands of old-growth cypress. These trees shaped the land, shaded the waterways, sheltered wildlife, and anchored a way of life. Their wood was prized because it resisted rot and insects, making it valuable for homes, boats, furniture, and industry in a hot, wet climate.
When the Ancient Cypress Were Harvested
Cypress logging in Louisiana began long before the industrial boom. As early as the 1700s, French settlers and swamp workers cut cypress by hand and floated logs through the waterways. By the 1800s, cypress had become an important export and building material, especially as New Orleans and other communities grew.
The real transformation came between about 1870 and 1920. During those decades, mechanized logging changed everything. Steamboats, small-gauge railroads, steam-powered winches, and large sawmills made it possible to remove massive trees from places that had once been difficult to reach. In the Atchafalaya Basin, the boom years of cypress logging reshaped the swamp on a scale that is hard to imagine today.
By the late 1800s and early 1900s, many of the old giants were gone. Mills along Bayou Teche and the Atchafalaya River processed enormous volumes of cypress lumber. Patterson, Louisiana, became one of the important centers of the industry, with sawmills that helped feed the growing demand for this durable wood.
By the 1930s, the Great Depression slowed demand, and by the time World War II arrived, most of the great virgin cypress stands had already been cut. What had taken centuries to grow was removed in only a few generations.
A Simple Timeline
· 1700s–1800s: Small-scale logging by hand, with cypress cut and moved through bayous and swamps.
· 1870s–1920s: Mechanized logging boom, when many of Louisiana’s ancient cypress trees were harvested.
· 1930s–1940s: Decline of the industry as demand slowed, supplies dwindled, and many mills closed.
· Today: Only scattered old-growth cypress remain, while second-growth forests struggle in some areas because of altered water flows and changing swamp conditions.
What Might the Basin Have Been?
It is difficult not to imagine another version of the Atchafalaya Basin: one where more of those ancient cypress still stand, their knees rising from the water, their trunks wide enough to make a person feel small, their branches holding birdsong above the swamp. The basin would not simply look different. It would feel different.
That thought often comes to me when crossing the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, the 18.2-mile elevated roadway that carries Interstate 10 across the basin and its surrounding wetlands. It is one of the longest bridges in the United States, and from that high stretch of road the views open wide across water, those remaining trees, new growth trees, and wildlife. As beautiful as that view can be, I cannot help wondering how much more awe-inspiring it might have been if more of the ancient cypress had remained standing below.
The loss of old-growth cypress was not just the loss of trees. It was the loss of habitat, shade, natural storm protection, and living history. These trees were witnesses to Indigenous communities, French and Spanish colonial Louisiana, steamboat travel, early settlements, floods, storms, and generations of people who made their lives along the water.
Still, the cypress remains one of Louisiana’s great symbols of resilience. Even in second-growth stands, even in scattered survivors, the tree reminds us of the deep relationship between land, water, culture, and memory. It also reminds us that what we protect now will shape what future generations inherit.
And the feeling is not limited to Louisiana. Whether a cypress rises from a bayou in Louisiana, a river swamp in Georgia, or a wetland in Florida, it carries the same quiet emotion: longevity, grace, and endurance. These trees remind us that beauty can be rooted, patient, and deeply connected to the land beneath it.
Protecting the Basin for the Future
Organizations like Atchafalaya Basin Keeper, found at Basinkeeper.org, are working to protect and restore the swamps, lakes, rivers, streams, and bayous of the Atchafalaya Basin for future generations. Their work includes advocacy, monitoring, and education, helping residents and visitors better understand why the Basin matters and why it is worth saving including the cypress trees found there. That kind of community education is important because the Basin is more than a beautiful landscape. It is a living system that supports wildlife, helps protect communities from flooding, preserves cultural history, and connects people across south Louisiana to water, land, and home.
When I see a cypress tree, I do not just see a tree. I see a piece of Louisiana’s soul rising from the water. Bring a piece of that natural history into your home today with lively cypress tree pieces including everything from kitchen accessories to pillows. Cypress tree products from Jane and Lizzee are also available at A&E Gallery located at 335 W Saint Peter St, New Iberia, LA, United States, 70560, open Wed-Friday, 10 am to 5 pm and Saturday, 10 am to 3 pm.
