Texas Presidential Museums

Texas has been home to four Presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon Baines Johnson, George Bush, and George W. Bush. The state is home to two presidential libraries---LBJ's and George Bush's--with plans for the George W. Bush presidential library to be constructed at Dallas's Southwest Methodist University.

Eisenhower's Birthplace

Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Denison on October 14, 1890 and today that home is the Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site. The park includes tours of the home, a visitors' center with displays on the President's life and presidency, picnicking and hiking.

LBJ National and State Historic Park

The LBJ National Historic Park encompasses two areas: Johnson City and the LBJ Ranch near Stonewall. In downtown Johnson City, the LBJ National Historic Park includes a visitors’ center with more on the life of the Johnson family.

Children can see for themselves what it would be like to give a presidential address to the nation in the kids' room of the visitors’ center. From here, walk to the LBJ's Boyhood Home, open for guided tours. Nearby stands the Johnson Settlement, a restoration of the cabin and buildings which belonged to President Johnson’s LBJ's grandfather.

From Johnson City, it's a short drive to the LBJ State Historical Park in Stonewall. Here children can learn more about life during pioneer times, as well as during the days of Johnson's presidency. Pastures are home to buffalo, native white-tailed deer and wild turkeys.

Ranch tours are offered by the National Park Service and are the only way to see the ranch itself. The last stop on the tour is the Sauer-Beckman farm; kids can pet horses, baby sheep and goats in this farm operated by docents in period dress.

In Austin on the campus of the University of Texas, the LBJ Presidential Library commemorates the career of the President. This expansive facility is filled with over 35 million historic documents, films and exhibits on Johnson's life and career, and even a reproduction of the White House Oval Office.

George Bush Presidential Library Center and Museum

In College Station, the George Bush Presidential Library Center and Museum is located at Texas A&M University. The Museum not only focuses on the facts of George Bush's life and Presidency, but also on American history from 1941. It features here include a World War II Avenger Torpedo Bomber, a piece of the Berlin Wall, and replicas of President Bush's offices at Camp David and on Air Force One.

Midland

George W. Bush’s childhood home at 1412 West Ohio is now open as The George W. Bush Childhood Home. About his former home, the President once said, “There’s so much optimism in Midland, such a passion for the possible. You see it everywhere in Midland and you see it throughout West Texas and I certainly saw it in the home where I was raised. It seems improbable now but that little house on Ohio Street, it really is the American story: Our country’s a place of limitless hopes and possibilities, and nowhere is that spirit more alive than in the great state of Texas.”

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