The entire family is sure to enjoy the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site, located between Fredericksburg and Johnson City in Stonewall, about a 90 minute drive from San Antonio. Visitors to the day-use park can enjoy historical study, picnicking, nature study, fishing, swimming and seeing Texas Longhorn cattle up close. There is abundant wildlife native to the Hill Country and is highlighted by enclosures containing buffalo, longhorn, and white-tailed deer. The park is famous for its spring wildflower display.
The Visitor Center contains memorabilia from President Johnson's life and presidency as well as displays about the history of the area. A two-room dogtrot cabin built by German immigrant H. C. Behrens during the 1870's shows furnishings typical of the period. The 1860s Danz family log cabin is located west of the Visitor Center that further explores the history of German immigrants. The Visitor Center contains an auditorium and an amphitheatre for films and programs. A nature trail is features a Hill Country botanical exhibit and winds past wildlife enclosures stocked with bison, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, other native wildlife and longhorn cattle.
Be sure to visit the Sauer-Beckmann Farm east of the Visitor Center and see the present-day living history of an authentic farm. Life on the farmstead is presented as it was in 1918. Park interpreters wear period clothing, do the farm and household chores as they were done at that time and also conduct tours for visitors. You will smell the aroma of lunch being cooked on a wood-burning stove and see costumed interpreters carry out daily activities of a 1900s era Texas-German farm family. Some chores are seasonal, such as canning and butchering. But farm animals must be cared for daily; feeding, milking, gathering eggs and slopping the hogs. Also, the house is cleaned, meals are cooked, butter is churned and cheese is made. Visitors may see the floors being scrubbed with homemade lye soap or the garden being plowed with a team of horses.
One of the Sauer descendants, Augusta Sauer Lindig, was a midwife at the birth of President Johnson.
For information on touring the park, call 830-868-7128.
Comments(0)