Hometown of Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson

Claudia Alta Taylor was five when her mother, Minnie Pattillo Taylor, died of complications from a miscarriage, and the household changed. The Handbook of Texas says her aunt Effie Pattillo moved to Karnack to care for her and her two older brothers, Tommy and Tony. She graduated from Marshall High School in 1928, then attended St. Mary's Episcopal School for Girls in Dallas until 1930. The Handbook's Karnack entry places her childhood home, a two-story white-brick house, about two and a half miles southwest of town on Highway 43.

What the plaque says

Hometown of Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson (Wife of 36th President of the United States) On December 22, 1912, in the family home 2.7 miles south, was born Claudia Alta Taylor. She was third child (only daughter) of Thomas Jefferson and Minnie Pattillo Taylor. Her father had a general store in Karnack for many years. Young "Lady Bird" (a pet name originated by her nurse, Alice Tittle) attended public schools in Fern community, near here, and in Jefferson and Marshall, and earned Bachelor of Arts and Journalism degrees at the University of Texas. On November 17, 1934, she married Lyndon Baines Johnson, congressional staff member who became head of National Youth Administration in Texas in 1935. The Johnsons are parents of two daughters, Lynda Bird and Luci Baines. During her husband's rise to world leadership-- as United States Congressman, Senator, Senate Majority Leader, Vice President, and President-- Mrs. Johnson added to role of wife and mother that of hostess to many of the greatest statesmen of the world. As First Lady of the United States, she is true to her East Texas heritage of love for gardens, trees, unspoiled natural scenery, and historic sites. She sponsors vital national programs of conservation, beautification, and historical preservation. Outstanding Women of Texas Series, 1967.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge — 0.3 mi
  Wetlands and woods on part of a former ammunition plant, now a refuge for wood ducks, prothonotary warblers and alligator snapping turtles, with four easy trails and a free visitor center on a Ramsar lake.
• Caddo Lake State Park — 1.0 mi
  A Civilian Conservation Corps park on the Texas shore of Caddo Lake, where the Caddo told of a lake made by wind-driven water and visitors now paddle Big Cypress Bayou past moss-hung bald cypress.
• Excelsior House Hotel — 12 mi
  A brick-and-timber hotel at 211 West Austin that began as a river captain's boarding house in 1858 and was revived by a garden club in 1959, and still takes guests with rosewood furniture.
• Jefferson Historical Museum — 12 mi
  A four-floor museum in Jefferson's 1888-90 federal post office and courthouse, with rooms for African-American history, Jewish heritage, the Caddo and Diamond Bessie, bought by the historical society in 1965 for $8,100.

More markers nearby

• Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant — steps away
• Old Town of Port Caddo — 1.0 mi
• Leigh Community Center and Health Unit — 1.4 mi
• Marshall-Shreveport Stagecoach Road — 7.5 mi