LBJ National Historical Site

Today we went to Stonewall, TX, to the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Site, which is also a Texas State Park. We checked out the Visitor Center and signed up for a tour of the LBJ ranch. It’s a self-guided auto tour, and we received a CD to play as we drove.

We needed to walk, so we took a trail to a dogtrot log cabin. Along the way we saw some longhorn cattle, and of course they saw us. I don’t think they were overly impressed, as they continued eating. The cabin seemed to be well constructed. Disappointingly, it was closed, and the windows were boarded up. We walked back to the Visitor Center. By the time we got there, we were very hot and feeling dehydrated, so we stopped to refill our water bottles before driving to a nearby picnic area for lunch.

Next we drove to the LBJ ranch. As we approached the Texas White House, we saw a large jet. We entered the converted hangar, where we signed up for a tour of the house. With twenty in our group, the tour was quick and superficial, but it was impressive to see the three televisions where the president watched the three national networks, NBC, ABC, and CBS. We saw the immense live oak under which LBJ held important meetings, and the bedrooms in which he and Lady Bird passed away.

We stopped briefly at the Johnson family cemetery, where we saw the headstones of the president and first lady along with those of several other family members.

Then we drove to Johnson City, where we toured LBJ’s boyhood home. It had cold running water in the kitchen and bath, supplied by a windmill in the back which pumped water up into a water tank. We also took in the exhibits in the Visitor Center.



By now we were tuckered out and headed home, stopping at a small combination ACE Hardware and Lowe’s market to pick up a few supplies.

We walked around the campground, including the tenting area. We saw more deer than campers. We caught a glimpse of a small mammal with a long dark bushy tail running through the tall grass, making us think of possibly a ringtail. It didn’t run like a fox, but it didn’t have a striped tail that we could tell, so we’re uncertain of the identification.