Johnson Settlement Area: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park

Regions 6, 7, & 8 Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Inventory Unit Description: The Johnson Settlement Area is one of two component landscapes that make up the Johnson City Unit of the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. Established in 1969, the multiple and varied resources of the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park document, interpret, and communicate the life and heritage of Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States. The Johnson Settlement Area served as the headquarters for President Johnson’s paternal grandparents, Samuel Ealy Johnson and Eliza Bunton’s, open-range cattle ranch from 1867 through 1872. After the collapse of the cattle ranching enterprise, the land was sold to James Polk Johnson and later converted into a small-scale farm by John Bruckner, a German immigrant. From 1970 through 1972, Lyndon B. Johnson was involved with the planning, acquisition, and donation of a portion of the original settlement property to the National Park Service. In 1972, a major restoration and reconstruction project was completed as the property was converted into an historic interpretive landscape administered by the National Park Service. The Johnson Settlement Area at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park opened to the public in 1974. The period of significance for this component landscape extends from 1864 through 1973. The period of significance begins when Samuel Johnson’s brother Tom Johnson obtained the 320-acre property and set up the family ranching business and concludes with the death of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973. Thus, everything that was present while President Johnson was alive is considered to be contributing to the district. The period of significance covers a broad period in which the landscape has changed dramatically, first converted into a site for large-scale cattle grazing, then later into a small-scale farm, and finally converted into an historic interpretive site upon acquisition by the National Park Service. As a result of the period of significance ending in 1973, the management efforts of the National Park Service in planning an historic interpretive landscape are significant. The Johnson Settlement Area is an historic vernacular landscape, significant under Criteria A, B, C, and D of the National Register of Historic Places in the areas of Agriculture, Architecture, Exploration/Settlement, Politics/Government, and Community Planning and Development. Criteria considerations E and G also apply to the property as it contains a number of reconstructed buildings that are less than 50 years in age. The Johnson Settlement Area has a rich layering of people, history, and land use with contributions to the development of the landscape by numerous relatives of President Johnson, later residents, and the National Park Service.

Johnson Settlement Area: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park

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