Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
President Johnson's birthplace in Gillespie County
Map showing the location of Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
Map showing the location of Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
Location Blanco and Gillespie counties, Texas, USA
Nearest city Johnson City, Texas; Stonewall, Texas
Coordinates 30°14′27″N 98°37′27″W / 30.24083°N 98.62417°W / 30.24083; -98.62417Coordinates: 30°14′27″N 98°37′27″W / 30.24083°N 98.62417°W / 30.24083; -98.62417
Area 1,571 acres (6.36 km2)
Established December 2, 1969
Visitors 110,791 (in 2012)[1]
Governing body National Park Service
Website Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
Area 1,571 acres (636 ha)
Built 1914 (1914)
NRHP reference # 69000202[2]
RTHL # Birthplace: 10062
Boyhood home: 2828
Significant dates
Added to NRHP December 2, 1969
Designated NHL May 23, 1966[3]
Designated RTHL Birthplace: 1967
Boyhood home: 1965
President Johnson and his wife Lady Bird greet Republicans Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, the 1968 presidential and vice-presidential nominees, at the LBJ Ranch in August 1968.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in central Texas about 50 miles (80 km) west of Austin in the Texas Hill Country.[4] The park protects the birthplace, home, ranch, and final resting place of Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States.[5] 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.[6]

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 14 miles (23 km) west of Johnson City along the north side of the Pedernales River 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 visitors center on Lady Bird Lane, and on United States Route 290 at N Street. The visitors center, located in a former hospital, provides an introduction to the park and exhibitions and films about President Johnson and his wife Lady Bird. A short way north of the visitors 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 in 1966. West of the visitors center is the Johnson Settlement, a restored prairie in which are found the dogtrot house 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.[7] Visitors take a self-guided auto driving tour from State Park visitor center; a permit is required.[8]

History

The park was authorized on December 2, 1969, as Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Site and was redesignated as a National Historical Park on December 28, 1980.[9][10] 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.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics". National Park Service. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  2. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  3. ↑ Staff (June 2011). "National Historic Landmarks Survey: List of National Historic Landmarks by State (Texas)" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  4. ↑ Gamino, Denice. "Piece of flying history lands on LBJ Ranch". Austin American Statesman. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Lyndon B. Johnson State Park & Historic Site". Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  6. ↑ "The White House Years". Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  7. ↑ "President Lyndon B. Johnson's Biography". Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  8. ↑ "State and National Parks in the Highland Lakes Region of Central Texas". Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  9. ↑ "Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Site, Texas Establishment - P.L. 91-134" (PDF). 83 Stat. 274-2. U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  10. ↑ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Richard Nixon: "Statement on Signing Bills for the Preservation of Presidential Birthplaces and Homes.," December 2, 1969". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park". Retrieved 1 August 2013.
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