This one has been a long time coming!
Join us in this video to hear from Ranger Kyle as he prepares chicken fried steak, explores its origins, and details President Johnsons love of it. As one of the staples of Texas Hill Country cuisine, this dish has found an honored place not just in our bellies, but in our very culture. We hope you get hungry just watching!
Video: A person in a park ranger uniform speaks to the camera and prepares a chicken fried steak with captions, graphics, and text surrounding.
Credit: NPS/Kyle Johnson/Douglas Smith
Music: relaxing-lofi-tessera-by-sascha-ende-from-filmmusic-io
#texas #txhillcountry #FindYourPark #FredericksburgTX #nationalparkservice #nps #chickenfriedsteak #cooking
This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, let us remember the man who fought tirelessly for Civil Rights and left a legacy both worthy of great praise and ongoing consideration. Without the work of Dr. King and other crucial Civil Rights leaders, President Johnsons goals to reshape equality in the United States would have no doubt suffered. Take a moment today to watch our VISTA Intern Jonathan Gutierrez commemmorate Dr. King and his legacy.
Video: A person in a blue shirt speaks to the camera while standing beside historic exhibts.
Credit: NPS/Douglas Smith
#LyndonBJohnson #MLKDay #martinlutherkingjr #civilrights #texas #nationalparkservice #AmericorpVista
Cemeteries shouldn’t be seen as scary places. They hold a connection to our past, and offer space for commemoration, reflection, and love for those who have gone before us.
Now imagine going to a cemetery to visit a loved one and see there’s been a disturbance in the ground. There are holes in the dirt all around the grave that go down nearly a foot. Who’s trying to get in? Who’s trying to get out?! There’s only one possible reason. No, not zombies. (Sorry.) It’s the armadillo!
The armadillo (Spanish for “little armored one”) is the official small mammal of Texas. The most common kind is the 9-banded armadillo. It is solitary, mostly nocturnal, eats ants, termites, and other bugs, and can jump up to 4’ in the air if startled, which happens a lot, and is why it gets hit, a lot, on the highway. They are so distinctive and unique, German settlers in these parts gave them their own name, panzerschwein, or “armored pig”.
Oh, and they like to dig. They are frantic, erratic diggers, with long middle front claws used specifically for digging. They dig up grubs, beetles, grasshoppers, worms, arachnids, whatever’s in the dirt. They can smell their food through 8” of soil and can keep their snout submerged for long periods to root around. They prefer to dig for food in soft soil, soil that’s been freshly turned up, like a yummy buffet, like a new grave.
As a result, they are sometimes called “grave robbers.” But they have no interest in your loved one. They’re sure your loved one was very nice. It’s the stuff around your loved one they want. They’re just doing their armadillo thing.
We salute the panzerschwein, not just during Halloween but all year long, in and out of cemeteries.
Video: An Armadillo shuffles along the ground and sniffs as the camera follows it.
Credit: Ray Filippazzo
#Halloween #armadillo #nps #nationalparks #NPSVolunteer #texashillcountry #FindYourPark
A long time ago on a ranch far far away...
There were retro busses, camp cooks, and mule drawn wagons! This footage, taken in 1978, shows us just a little bit of what has (and hasn't) changed at LBJNHP. We're grateful to our curatorial team for working to digitize this special look into the past. We hope you enjoy it just as much! Do you remember anything from the park at this time?
Video: vintage footage of ranchland and historic park.
Credit: NPS
#FindYourPark #LyndonBJohnson #texashillcountry #johnsoncitytexas #nps
Total Solar Eclipse at LBJ
Hey, who turned out the lights?
That's right, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is going to be in the path of the Total Solar Eclipse coming on April 8, 2024! We will have 4 minutes and 14 seconds of darkness here in the Hill Country, and are expecting a great influx of visitors to the LBJ Ranch. No reservation will be available and entrance will be on a first come first serve basis, with the first 500 vehicles being allowed in. If you would like to join us for this special day, along with an entire weekend of programming from our rangers and NASA representatives, be prepared!
Eclipse glasses and merchandise are available in the WNPA store in our Johnson City Visitor Center.
Visit our main Eclipse web page for more information : https://www.nps.gov/lyjo/eclipse2024.htm
If you have further questions, please email us at [email protected] and include 'eclipse' in the subject line.
Video: A visualization of a total solar eclipse along with text describing the event and photos of people wearing eclipse glasses looking up.
Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio/NPS
#TotalEclipse2024 #LBJ #texas #texashillcountry
Heart's Homeland - Junction School
A one room school house built just after the turn of the last century, the Junction School on the LBJ Ranch is a symbol of rurual America, an encapsulation of a time period, and a monument to the importance of children's education. Lyndon Baines Johnson was one such child impacted by this place, and he would never forget the lessons he learned within its walls. In this episdoe of Heart's Homeland, Ranger Douglas focuses on a different part of the school's history - when it was termporarly closed due to a whooping cough outbreak in 1912.
Video: A Park Ranger in a green and grey uniform walks around a one room school house talking to the camera. Photographs appear on screen and dissapear.
Credit: NPS/Douglas Smith/Public Domain
#Findyourpark #NPS #TexasHillCountry #LBJ #Texas #HillCountry #teaching #education
We had a great time this season bringing visitors into the Boyhood Home on our Lamplight Tours and reading to kids from the Stonewall HeadStart program at the Junction School! We hope this time of year is full of cheer and joy for all of you as well.
Video: People read to kids from picture books and tour a historic home in timelapse clips.
Music: Winter Lullaby by Music Files
Credit: NPS/Douglas Smith
#NPS #LBJ #Holidays
Happy New Year!
A home, a place of business, and the location from which President Johnson often ran the country from 1963-1969, the Texas White House has left an enormous impact on the nation and the world. Today, the Texas White House Complex on the LBJ Ranch is being closed to the public in order to begin our much needed rehabilitation project there. As we look forward to preserving the structures at the complex for future generations, we're taking a moment to reflect on the changes the building has seen in the past. In the first episode of our new series "Heart's Homeland," see Ranger Douglas describe how the Texas White House became the structure we know today. Hint: This isn't the first time the building has needed extensive repairs!
Don't forget that much of the LBJ Ranch is still accessible including the Junction School, Reconstructed Birthplace, Showbarn, and more!
Video: A Park Ranger walks around a large white house speaking to the camera.
Credit: NPS/Douglas Smith
#TexasHillCountry #NPS #LBJ #Texas #Findyourpark
What's that smell? Why's it so smoky around here? Well partner, we've been doing some horn branding on the LBJ Ranch again!
In this video, listen to our ranch Foreman Clint Herriman describe the process and origin behind the famous brands on our hereford cattle's horns.
Video: Cows and ranching activities. A man in western wear brands a cattle's horns and talks to a crowd off screen.
Credit: NPS/Douglas Smith
#NPS #TexasHillCountry #LBJ #ranching
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park preserves the land and structures associated with the life of the 36th president of the United States of America.
