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 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, exhibits 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 1965. 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 StatesRoute 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 , his , the , and the , 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 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. Present holdings are approximately 1,570 acres, 674 acres of which are federal. The Johnson family continues to donate land to this property; their most recent gift was in April 1995.