The Johnson Home
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Erected 1858 by Chas. Johnson, near the Wm. McGill Ford on the Colorado River. Built by fellow Swedes, of native stone from his own quarry and lime kiln. Walls are 18-inches thick. A stone-paved breezeway joined the two wings of the building. A long porch with six Ionic columns was added, and the open breezeway closed, following the purchase of the property in 1924 as permanent home of the Travis Post 76, American Legion. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Charles Johnson, a Swedish immigrant, raised this thick-walled stone house near a Colorado River ford in 1858, quarrying the native stone and burning the lime himself with the help of fellow Swedes. Its eighteen-inch walls and breezeway-joined wings mark the craftsmanship of Central Texas's early Swedish settlers. In 1924 it became the permanent home of an American Legion post, which added the columned porch.
Why it matters
The home reflects the Swedish immigrant communities that helped settle the Texas Hill Country and their durable stone-building traditions.
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Related people
- · Charles Johnson
Themes & tags
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