New Book Releases

Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson took pride in his heritage and in the Texas Hill Country roots of his pioneer ancestors. He delighted in showing guests the ancestral settlement, and his birthplace, boyhood home, and the family treasure: the LBJ Ranch and the home that became known as the Texas White House. LBJ generously gifted these cherished assets to the people of the United States. Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park holds more assets significant to an American president than any other U.S. presidential site. Visitors may stroll through the Johnson Settlement, stepping back in time to the 1860s, when President Johnson's ancestors helped settle Johnson City, which was named after James Polk Johnson, nephew to LBJ's grandfather. The Boyhood Home and Visitor Center are located close to the Johnson Settlement, and visitors can tour the reconstructed Birthplace and enjoy a scenic drive through the LBJ Ranch before touring the Texas White House. This book illustrates the significance of LBJ's heritage and the circle of life represented by what is both a birthplace and a final resting place.

The Rio Grande makes a large bend into Mexico and forms the "boot heel" of Texas that is the Big Bend. Big Bend National Park nestles inside this meander, and its history is as much a part of Mexico as it is of Texas. The remote border location is historically replete with rich cultural diversity, including nomadic bands of Native Americans, Spanish explorers, Mexican and Anglo farmers, ranchers, miners, military men, and entrepreneurs. In the 1930s, a handful of people saw the Big Bend's majestic ruggedness as a place where all Americans could touch the Creator in nature and appreciate the alien qualities that both test and console the human spirit. This remote frontier still draws the souls of those seeking wide-open vistas and crystal-clear night skies.

Dallas, called "Big D," is the eighth largest city in the United States and rests on 343 square miles of rolling prairie. To meet the growing recreational and cultural needs of its citizens, the Dallas Park and Recreation Department maintains more than 23,018 park acres--one of the largest municipal park systems in the country. Dallas has over 400 individual parks, including community centers, swimming pools, athletic fields, and a metropolitan zoo. From such well-known places as Fair Park, home of the State Fair of Texas and the Texas Centennial Exposition of 1936, to Dealey Plaza, and to lesser-known neighborhood parks, Dallas parks have a rich history stretching from the days when Dallas was a western boom town to a 21st century metropolis. Historic Dallas Parks explores the origins and early development of this nationally recognized system with interesting background stories and facts and illustrated with photographs and historical documents from the collections of the Dallas Municipal Archives.

Fort Worth sits on a blend of timber and prairie land that is transected by the Trinity River and its tributaries. These physical attributes invited the creation of parks to preserve scenic landscapes and to provide Fort Worth residents with access to nature. Generous land donations as well as the foresight of city leaders allowed for the acquisition of park land, particularly after the formation of the park department in 1909. Local architects and such well-known names as George E. Kessler, Hare and Hare, Philip Johnson, and Lawrence Halprin have left a rich legacy of nationally recognized parks and recreational amenities. These include the Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth Botanic Garden, the Water Gardens, Heritage Plaza, Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge, and Fort Woof, the city's first dog park.