In Lafayette we visited the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. The parish church of St. John du Vermilion was first established here in 1821. This unusual looking church is now the Cathedral church of the 121 parishes of the diocese of Lafayette.  It was constructed between 1912 and 1916 as the Church of St. John the Evangelist and became the cathedral in 1918.  The architecture is described as Dutch Romanesque. The Cathedral cemetery has tombs dating to the 1920’s. The mammoth oak tree, the Cathedral Oak, is one of the charter members of the Live Oak Society and is now the Vice-President, or one of the oldest members. The Society was started in 1934 to recognize some of the oldest and most beautiful oak trees in the US.  This tree is estimated by arborists to be almost 500 years old.  The diameter of the trunk is 9.2 feet with a circumference of 28.9 feet.  It is 126 feet high with a spread of 138 feet.  The weight of the large horizontal limb near the church has been computed by engineering consultants at 72 TONS!