The farmhouse where Lyndon Johnson was born on 27 August 1908 was torn down in the 1940s, and the one standing on its site on the Pedernales is a reconstruction that Johnson had built while he was president. His grandfather Sam Ealy Johnson Sr. had built the original in 1889. In 1964 the Austin architect J. Roy White rebuilt it from old photographs and from the memories of Johnson's relatives, reusing some of the stone from the original fireplace and some salvaged lumber. Johnson built it to show visitors where he came from, and for two years, from 1964 to 1966, it also served as a guest house for the overflow from the Texas White House a short way up the river.
The new house was given a modern kitchen and bathroom but no central heating or air conditioning, and Johnson took visitors through it himself. The National Park Service describes it as the only presidential birthplace ever reconstructed, refurbished and interpreted by a sitting president.
Getting there
30.2416, -98.6101
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
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