Reconstructed Birthplace

Springtime at the Reconstructed Birthplace.

NPS Photo / Jack Burton

Quick Facts

Amenities

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Benches/Seating

In 1964, President Johnson hired architect J. Roy White of Austin, Texas to reconstruct his birthplace home on the site where the original once stood. The reconstructed birthplace is similar in size and style to the dogtrot house that Sam Ealy Johnson Sr., the president's grandfather, built in 1889, but because the Johnsons intended to use it as a guesthouse, a modern kitchen and bathroom, running water, and electricity were added.

President and Mrs. Johnson then furnished the house with many objects to which they had a deep sentimental attachment, either because they had belonged to family or were gifts from special friends.

The Lyndon B. Johnson Birthplace-Cottage has the distinction of being the nation's only presidential birthplace to be reconstructed, refurnished, and interpreted by an incumbent chief executive.

What is a Dogtrot?

Stand in the open hallway of the Reconstructed Birthplace. Do you feel something? Imagine living through a hot, humid southern summer in a home before the benefit of air-conditioning. To provide shade and a cooling breeze, a covered porch area was built to separate the two main areas of the house. This is the dogtrot. By opening doors and windows, a homeowner could draw a breeze from the dogtrot throughout the house. Pets also enjoyed the cool shade, thus resulting in the name dogtrot.