"Texas White House" Opens to the Public for the First Time on August 27

Date: August 15, 2008
Contact: Liz Lindig, 830-868-7128 ext.231

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park announces the official opening of the LBJ Ranch home of President Lyndon B. and "Lady Bird" Johnson on Wednesday, August 27, the 100th anniversary of President Johnson's birth. The public will view his 1960s office in the house, which has been restored to its appearance during the presidential years with the original furnishings and personal belongings that he used. Also opening to the public for the first time that day is the LBJ Ranch airplane hangar, scene of presidential press conferences and Johnson family gatherings, including movie screenings and parties. Tours of the Texas White House office and admittance to the hangar will begin after the annual wreath laying event honoring Lyndon Johnson’s life and legacy (held since 1973 in the Johnson family cemetery on the ranch) concludes.

Another first will be the opening of the LBJ Ranch to private vehicular traffic, beginning at 9:30 a.m. on August 27 and continuing through September 30. During that time, there will be no ranger-guided bus tours of the LBJ Ranch. After September 30, this approach to experiencing the ranch will be evaluated and future planning that fully includes public input will continue. Beginning on August 27, drivers must display a permit to enter the ranch. Permits will be available at Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site's Visitor Center, one mile east of Stonewall or 14 miles west of Johnson City off U.S. Highway 290. The LBJ State Park will be offering special showings of the award winning 30-minute film, "The Journey of LBJ".

The public is invited to drive on to the ranch for the wreath laying and commemorative program, which will commence at approximately 10:30 a.m. President and Mrs. Johnson’s daughters, Lynda Johnson Robb and Luci Baines Johnson, will officiate at the ceremony and share their personal reminiscences. Colonel Jacqueline D. Van Ovost of Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio will assist in laying the wreath and offer remarks suitable to the occasion.

Immediately following the ceremony, the public is invited to adjourn to the ranch airplane hangar, where National Park Service tours of the newly restored presidential office, the Texas White House grounds, and the area surrounding the U.S. Secret Service Command Post will originate.

For further information or driving directions, and for additional upcoming events during 2008, Lyndon B. Johnson's Centennial Year, please call [phone], ext. 231 or 244, or log on to www.lbj100.org.