Sam E. Johnson Sr. Cabin

The weathered log cabin of President Johnson's grandparents

NPS Photo

For five years (1867–1872) this cabin was the home of Samuel Ealy Johnson and his wife Eliza. While Sam ran the family's cattle business, Eliza attended by hand to virtually every detail of running the ranch. She hauled water, spun wool, made clothes, cooked meals, and tended the animals. Self-sufficiency was a must; the nearest store was in Blanco, a day's ride away.

The Johnson cabin is typical of the "dogtrot" cabins that were once common in Texas. The shaded breezeway—through which a dog could easily trot—provided storage space and much-needed relief during the hill country's blistering summers. The west wing, nearest you, was built first, in 1856; Sam Johnson added the east wing about 1868.