Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is a United States

National Historical Park National Historic Site (NHS) is a designation for an officially recognized area of national historic significance in the United States. An NHS usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject. The National Historic ...

in central

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

about west of

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

in the

Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Americ ...

. The park protects the birthplace, home,

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...

, and final resting place of

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, 36th

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

. During Johnson's administration, the LBJ Ranch was known as the "Texas White House" because the President spent approximately 20% of his time in office there.

Districts and features

The park consists of two discontiguous areas, the Johnson City District and the LBJ Ranch District. The Johnson City District, located in Johnson City, contains the boyhood home of President Johnson and his grandparents' log cabin settlement, as well as the National Park Visitor Center. The LBJ Ranch District is located roughly west of Johnson City along the north side of the

Pedernales River The Pedernales River ( ) is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in Central Texas in the United States. It drains an area of the Edwards Plateau, flowing west to east across the Texas Hill Country west of Austin. The name "Peder ...

in Gillespie County. The ranch was the Johnson family retreat during his period of greatest influence, and is the site of the family cemetery. This gives the visitors a perspective of President Johnson's life when he was in office.

Johnson City

The Johnson City Unit is located on the south side of the city, with parking areas at the visitor center on Lady Bird Lane, and on United States Route 290 at N Street. The visitor center, located in a former hospital, provides an introduction to the park, exhibits and films about President Johnson and his wife Lady Bird. A short way north of the visitor center is the Johnson Boyhood Home, an 1880s Victorian house where he lived with his parents from age five. This house, restored by Johnson while he was president, was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

in 1965. West of the visitor center is the Johnson Settlement, a restored prairie in which are found the

dogtrot house The dogtrot, also known as a breezeway house, dog-run, or possum-trot, is a style of house that was common throughout the Southeastern United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some theories place its origins in the southern Appalac ...

of Johnson's grandfather, and other 19th-century agricultural buildings.

LBJ Ranch

The ranch is located on the north side of United States Route 290, about fourteen miles west of Johnson City, with its main access through the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site, which lies between the highway and the south bank of the Pedernales River. The National Park Service lands lie north of the river. Among the sites preserved at the Ranch are the President's first school, his reconstructed birthplace, the Texas White House, and the Johnson Family Cemetery, where both President and Lady Bird Johnson are buried. Visitors take a self-guided auto driving tour from State Park visitor center; a permit is required. On August 2, 2018, the National Park Service announced that the Texas White House and Pool House were temporarily closed to visitors due to structural issues.

History

The

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

was authorized on December 2, 1969, as Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Site and was redesignated as a

on December 28, 1980. Present holdings are approximately 1,570 acres (6.4 km²), 674 acres (2.7 km²) of which are federal. The Johnson family continues to donate land to this property; their most recent gift was in April 1995.

Gallery

File:DIG13746-P1.jpg, LBJ State Park and Historic Area is separated by the

from the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. File:LBJ State Park sign, TX IMG 1466.JPG, LBJ State Park and Historic Area is separated by the

from the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. File:LBJ Historical Park sign IMG 1521.JPG, Sign at entrance to Johnson National Historical Park File:Rear view of LBJ birthplace, TX IMG 1496.JPG, Rear view of President Johnson birthplace File:LBJ one-room schoolhouse IMG 1485.JPG, Young Johnson briefly attended this former one-room school c. 1914. File:Outhouse at LBJ birthplace, TX IMG 1498.JPG, Outhouse at Johnson birthplace File:Cattle at LBJ National Historical Park IMG 1487.JPG, Cattle in the park are descended from former livestock of President Johnson. File:Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch October 2020 11 (Sam E. Johnson, Sr. Home).jpg, Farmhouse of Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr., the grandfather of President Johnson; he died when Lyndon was six years old. File:Trinity Lutheran Church, Stonewall, TX IMG 1502.JPG, Though he was affiliated with the

Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...

denomination, President Johnson often worshipped while at his ranch at the Trinity

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

(shown in the background). File:Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch October 2020 21 (Air Force One-Half).jpg,

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and us ...

used to bring Lyndon Johnson to the Texas White House File:Chuckwagon at LBJ Ranch IMG 1510.JPG,

Chuckwagon A chuckwagon is a type of field kitchen covered wagon historically used for the storage and transportation of food and cooking equipment on the prairies of the United States and Canada. Such wagons formed part of a wagon train of settlers or fed ...

at LBJ Ranch used for preparing barbecues. File:Live oak tree outside LBJ Ranch IMG 1511.JPG, Large live oak tree in front of entrance to LBJ Ranch File:Swimming pool at LBJ Ranch IMG 1512.JPG, The pool at the LBJ Ranch was installed in 1955 after then Senator Johnson's

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

. He was supposed to use it for exercise, but Mrs. Johnson spent far more time in the water. File:Names in cement at LBJ Ranch IMG 1513.JPG, Guests at the LBJ Ranch were sometimes invited to place their names in cement for posterity; here one can see the names of

Orville Freeman Orville Lothrop Freeman (May 9, 1918February 20, 2003) was an American Democratic politician who served as the 29th Governor of Minnesota from January 5, 1955, to January 2, 1961, and as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1961 to 1969 under ...

Curtis LeMay Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906 – October 1, 1990) was an American Air Force general who implemented a controversial strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific theater of World War II. He later served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air ...

, and singer

Eddy Arnold Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' cou ...

. File:House for secret service at LBJ Ranch IMG 1514.JPG,

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

agents guarding President Johnson lived in this small house while on duty at the LBJ Ranch. File:Johnson graves at LBJ Historical Park IMG 1503.JPG, The graves of Lady Bird and Lyndon Johnson (his with flag) at family cemetery in the national historical park; the public is not allowed entry into the cemetery. File:President Lyndon B. Johnson and Vice-President-Elect Hubert Humphrey.tif, President Johnson and Vice-president-elect Humphrey in LBJ ranch shortly after winning 1964 election

References

External links

*
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park official site

* * ttp://www.c-span.org/video/?151632-1/life-portrait-lyndon-b-johnson "Life Portrait of Lyndon B. Johnson" from

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

's '' American Presidents: Life Portraits'', broadcast from the LBJ Ranch, November 12, 1999 *
The Johnsons of Johnson City
'' KPRC television special from about the LBJ Ranch, from the

Texas Archive of the Moving Image The Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) is an independent 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2002 by film archivist and University of Texas at Austin professor Caroline Frick, PhD. TAMI's mission is to preserve, study, and exhibit Texas film h ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Lyndon B. National Historical Park 1969 establishments in Texas Historic house museums in Texas Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas

Museums in Blanco County, Texas Museums in Gillespie County, Texas National Historical Parks of the United States National Park Service areas in Texas National Register of Historic Places in Gillespie County, Texas Presidential homes in the United States Presidential museums in Texas Protected areas established in 1969 Protected areas of Blanco County, Texas Protected areas of Gillespie County, Texas Ranches on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Birthplaces of individual people Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Tombs of presidents of the United States