Pedernales Electric Co-op

Headquarters of the Pedernales Electric Cooperative in Johnson City

NPS Photo / Jack Burton

Quick Facts

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Pedernales Electric Cooperative

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Across the street from Lyndon Johnson's Boyhood Home is the modern headquarters of the Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC). When Lyndon Johnson was growing up, Johnson City had no electricity, a common occurrence at that time in most rural areas around the United States. People relied on kerosene lanterns for lighting, and on windmills, horses, and the occasional gasoline motor for other jobs that were too difficult to be performed by hand.

In 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Rural Electrification Administration, which encouraged rural areas to develop electrical grids by providing low-cost loans and other aid. The process was difficult, and there were significant challenges such as minimum population density requirements that needed to be overcome.

Newly elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1937, Lyndon Johnson immediately began lobbying the Roosevelt administration to waive the population density requirement. Meanwhile, local representatives across five Texas counties, sought support from area ranchers and residents, and in May 1938, the Pedernales Electric Cooperative was established. Later that year, Congressman Johnson was able to secure federal funds, and construction began on the infrastructure that would eventually bring electricity and the modern era to the Texas Hill Country.