CHRISTMASES PAST CELEBRATED AT NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK ON FOUR CONSECUTIVE SATURDAYS
Johnson City, Texas -- Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park invites everyone to experience "Christmas at the LBJ Boyhood Home" on November 24, December 1, December 8 and December 15. National park rangers will provide an open house of this historic home, all decked out for a Christmas celebration in the 1920s from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. each evening.
On these four Saturdays, the LBJ Boyhood Home will be lamp lit, giving visitors an opportunity to experience family life at the Johnsons' house as it was more than eighty years ago. National park rangers and volunteers team up to portray a 1920s Christmas, complete with Christmas caroling, a cedar tree in the parlor adorned with handmade ornaments and a toy display beneath, and authentic decorations and seasonal goodies throughout the home.
As a special treat on December 8 only, visitors can board the shuttle bus at the back gate for a five-minute ride to the Johnson Settlement, where they are guided by lantern light even further back in time to a late 1860s Christmas in frontier Texas. The Exhibit Center will be open for visitors wanting to immerse themselves in what life was like on those cattle drives of long ago, or learn about Lyndon Johnson’s ancestors and what their lives were like on the settlement lands and about other families who came after them and farmed this harsh land. Further up the path is the original Sam Ealy Johnson cabin, where Lyndon Johnson's grandparents first homesteaded in 1869. Here the lighting is provided by candles, oil lamps, and two fireplaces. The decorations here are much simpler, but there is also a tree and some toys, as well as seasonal music. Just as strangers were welcomed in the past, visitors are offered refreshments before they strike out again on the trail home.
The Western National Parks Association bookstore in the park Visitor Center at 100 Ladybird Lane will also be open each Saturday evenings. The bookstore has a variety of books for all ages and other products from children’s toys to notecards and calendars. Proceeds from the sales in the bookstore directly support education and research programs in the park.
These park events are free of charge and are complemented by the stunning lighting display at the Pedernales Electric Cooperative, across the street from the LBJ Boyhood Home, with majestic live oaks resplendent in hundreds of thousands of tiny white lights. In addition, the Blanco County Courthouse, just two blocks north of the Boyhood Home on Avenue G, is the centerpiece of the town's seasonal celebration, "Lights Spectacular", and is not to be missed.
The turn for the LBJ Boyhood Home is just three blocks (turn left onto Avenue G) west of the intersection of Highways 281 and 290 in Johnson City. Parking is available in the Visitor Center lot at Avenue G and Ladybird Lane. For detailed directions or additional information, please call (830) 868-7128, extension 244.
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Here is a brief description: @ 6p-9p, each evening, National Park Rangers will provide an open house and relive a 1920’s small town Christmas celebration in this decked out historic home located on Elm Street, one block south of Hwy 290 (Main Street) in Johnson City. Free. Complemented by stunning lighting display at the PEC, across the street. Web: www.nps.gov/lyjo. Public affairs office: (830) 868-7128, x244. See details @ Parks. Full event details @ Christmas |
