Christmas through the years in Lyndon Johnson's Texas home

Gather the family and come out to Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park to celebrate the holiday season at “Christmas Through the Years in LBJ Country” on Saturday, December 10, in Johnson City, Texas. This National Park Service centennial celebration will run from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.

 

Sign designating the LBJ National Historical Park

The special event is free and open to the public. It takes place outdoors at 200 Elm Street in Johnson City on the city block where young Lyndon Johnson came of age. The president’s Boyhood Home will be open for lamplight tours. Next door is the Pedernales Electric Cooperative headquarters, where thousands of Christmas lights illuminate stately live oak trees.

Christmas was a special time for President and Mrs. Johnson and their family. This year the National Park Service carries on the Johnson family’s tradition by making the holiday season special for locals and “out-of-towners” alike.

Blanco County Courthouse in Johnson City, Texas
shines during Lights Spectacular.

If you haven’t been to Johnson City during the holidays, this is a great chance to visit. Christmas glows for the 23^rd year during the annual Lights Spectacular presentation, which runs from November 25. 2016 through January 1, 2017. More than 100,000 lights sparkle on the Blanco County Courthouse, centerpiece of the display, while Pedernales Electric Co-op’s Headquarters boasts a twinkling forest with over one million lights. Practically every inch of tree bark and limbs is covered with tiny white lights, and larger bulbs gleam through the branches. This local celebration will cap the National Park Service’s year-long centennial celebration.

A wonderland of festive lights at Pedernales Electri Co-op's
Headquarters in Johnson City, Texas

Activities showcasing Christmas traditions from the 1860s through the 1960s—from the time of the president’s grandparents to the years of Lyndon Johnson’s presidency—will include the following:

• Traditional country music and Christmas carols with Brian Black from 7:00 to 8:30 pm
• An 1860s chuck wagon cooking demonstration with cowboy stories
• Hands-on Christmas crafts for children
• Display of President Johnson’s historic 1915 American LaFrance fire truck
• Lamplight tours through Lyndon Johnson’s Boyhood Home
• An exhibit and presentation on young Congressman Lyndon Johnson making Lights Spectacular a future reality with the creation of the Pedernales Electric Cooperative
• Screening of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on an outdoor movie screen
• Brian Black of Bandera, Texas, a music artist who has opened for and played with a number of renowned musical artists, will perform.

LBJ's boyhood home will feature lamplight tours

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is open seven days a week from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. For more information visit www.nps.gov/lyjo  and www.facebook.com/LBJohnsonNPS

Information courtesy of Brian Vickers, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park

Top 3 photos by Larry and Beverly Burmeier. LBJ home from free source.

Read more about Johnson City's Lights Spectacular here: http://www.goingonadventures.com/2010/12/lights-spectacular-display-shines.html#.WDi0nCYzWmQ