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 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 in 1965. 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.
LBJ Ranch greet
Republicans
Richard Nixon and
Spiro Agnew, the
1968 presidential and vice-presidential nominees, at the LBJ Ranch in August 1968. 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. Unusually for a Presidential residence, but per Lyndon Johnson's instructions, the ranch includes a herd of
Hereford cattle, descended from cattle owned by Johnson. 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==