City Spotlight: Johnson City
Take U.S. Route 290 between Austin and Fredericksburg, and you’ll pass through Johnson City, the quaint little county seat of Blanco County that a humble 2,000 Texans call home. Eleven months out of the year, Johnson City merits a stop for passers-through to explore it as the birthplace, childhood home, and final resting place of Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the U.S. But in December, when the town is decked out from halls to streets in Christmas lights, there are millions of twinkling reasons to stop (and stay) in Johnson City.
Lyndon B. Johnson’s City
Lyndon B. Johnson was a Johnson City boy through and through. In fact, the town was named after his father’s cousin, James P. Johnson, after he donated land for the city’s founding in the 1870s. Three decades later, his great-nephew and the future POTUS was born in the area. Little LBJ was raised there, and his Boyhood Home, which is open for public tours, is now a historical landmark in Johnson City. The home is part of the family’s estate, which is now called the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. Visitors can explore the Johnsons’ ranch, see their cattle operations, and get a glimpse of early 20th-century Texas in Hill Country through the eyes of an American legend.
After his political career ended, LBJ retired and moved back to Johnson City with his wife Lady Bird Johnson (a Texas legend in her own right), where he lived until his death in 1973. He and Lady Bird are both buried in the family cemetery at the historical park.
The Twinkliest Town in Texas
The rest of Johnson City is unpresuming most of the year, although a few local restaurants like The Jittery Biscuit and Pig Ben BBQ are definitely worth patronizing while you’re in town. But if you’re here on a December evening during the town’s annual Lights Spectacular event, more than 2 million Christmas lights in the historic downtown square will render the town almost unrecognizable. The courthouse and its yard are draped in lights, carriage rides fill the streets, and even Santa Claus appears to take photos and hear Christmas wishes from kids at this grandiose display of lights. So bright is the town during this festival that, according to the locals, NASA once reported seeing the event from the International Space Station.
The self-dubbed “Twinkliest Town in Texas” might be just that — but you’ll have to visit to decide for yourself.
Discover even more Texas-sized holiday events for the family on our guide.
