Johnson Family Farm Historic Area: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, National Park Service
Degutis E and Foster L. 2011. Johnson Family Farm Historic Area: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, National Park Service. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 850296. NPS Intermountain Regional Office. Intermountain Regional Office/CLI Database
The Johnson Family Farm Historic Area component landscape is a part of the LBJ Ranch District, part of the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park near Austin, Texas. The cultural landscape contains sites associated with the Johnson Family Farm (1889-1922) and with LBJ's early childhood period (1908-1913), such as his grandparents' house (Sam E. Johnson Farm House) and the Junction School. The LBJ Birthplace is a reconstructed structure on the location of the original birthplace, designed under LBJ’s direction. The Johnson Family Cemetery is also associated with this component landscape. The significance of the landscape is identified as 1869 to 1922 for its associations with politics, the U.S. Presidency, the full lifespan of Lyndon B. Johnson, and agricultural settlement in the region. This particular landscape component most strongly corresponds to the birth and early years of LBJ, as well as the development into his position as 36th U.S. President. He enacted a major national educational law in front of the Junction School, which he also attended as a youth. In addition to LBJ, the site is locally significant for the political career of his father Sam E. Johnston, Jr., who served as a Texas state legislator. The structures also represent the distinctive construction characteristics of a Texas Hill Country family farm. The Johnson Family Farm Historic Area component landscape is set in the wooded river bottoms on the north bank of the Pedernales River. During previous floods, the river has inundated the bottoms, and even reached to the structures. The feeling is one of rural seclusion, with the historic features adding depth and a sense of family memory to the LBJ Ranch District’s other component landscapes. The integrity of some areas is questionable, as many changes have occurred over time and one structure is a reconstruction. However, in its entirety (and especially in relation to the other component landscapes of the LBJ Ranch District) the general setting, condition, integrity, and feeling of this area contribute to its eligibility for the National Register as a district.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Degutis, Erin; Foster, Lance
- Date of Issue
- 2011-09-13
- Publisher
- NPS Intermountain Regional Office
- Units
- IMR , LYJO
- Keywords
- Agriculture, cemetery, Childhood Home, Family Farm, Gillespie County, Hispanic, historic site, Johnson Family Cemetery, Jordan Farm, Junction School, lbj, LBJ Ranch District, Native American, Pedernales River, Political and Military Affairs After 1945, Politics-Government, Reconstruction, River Bottoms, Sam E. Johnson Farm House, Shaping the Political Landscape, Texas, Texas Hill Country, The Farmers' Frontier, Vernacular Landscape, Westward Expansion of the Colonies and the United States 1763-1898