| Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Map: | Texas#USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label: | Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label Position: | right | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relief: | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location: | Blanco and Gillespie County, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nearest City: | Johnson City, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates: | 30.2408°N -98.6242°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area Acre: | 1571 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Established: | December 2, 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Visitation Num: | 110,791 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Visitation Year: | 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Visitation Ref: | [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Governing Body: | National Park Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Embedded: |
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Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in central Texas about 50miles west of Austin in the Texas Hill Country.[3] The park protects the birthplace, home, ranch, and grave of Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th president of the United States.[4] 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.[5]
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 14miles 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.
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 in 1965.[6] West of the visitor 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.
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] 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.[9]
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.[10] [11] 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.[12]