The Active Historian

Hey, friend! Welcome back to another post. Today, I want to show around Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. This area is significant in history as this is where United States President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

Dealey Plaza sits on the area that is considered the “birthplace of Dallas.” The plaque on site reads, “Within the small park was built the first home which also served as the first courthouse and postoffice, the first store and the first fraternal lodge.”

Dealey Plaza was established in 1940 by the City of Dallas Park Board.

The statue below depicts George Bannerman Dealey (1859-1946).

The white portions of the park were constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the 1930s and 1940s. The public projects were instituted to help employ people. WPA projects were established across the United States. You can view some of my other posts to see various projects across Oklahoma.

There are a couple of half circles that surround various statues, maps, and markers within Dealey Plaza.

Below a map has been added of US President JFK’s route through the plaza before he was assassinated. There is a paragraph next to the map that reads:

“On November 22, 1963, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, thirty-fifth President of the United States visited Dallas. A Presidential Parade traveled North on Houston Street to Elm Street and West on Elm Street. As the parade continued on Elm Street at 12:30 P.M., rifle shots wounded the President and Texas Governor John Connally.

Findings of the Warren Commission indicated that the rifle shots were fired from a sixth floor window near the southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository Building Elm and Houston, a block North of this marker.

President Kennedy expired at Parkland Memorial Hospital at 11:00 P.M.

The John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial Plaza is nearby bounded by Main, Record, Market and Commerce Streets.”

The photo below shows an information plaque that reads, “Taken from near this vantage point, the photo [on the plaque] shows the presidential limousine approaching what would later be called the grassy knoll. Investigators believe the picture was taken about the time of the first shot. The alleged assassin’s window is at the far right corner of the sixth floor of the building behind you, known in 1963 as the Texas School Book Depository. In this photo, the distance from the window to the president is about 165 feet.”

Pictured below is the Grassy Knoll.

Pictured below is the former Texas School Book Depository Building. This building currently houses the Sixth Floor Museum on the sixth and seventh floors.

The historic marker on the building reads:

“Formerly the Texas School Book Depository Building” Guillot operated a wagon shop here. In 1894 the land was purchased by Phil L. Mitchell, President and Director of the Rock Island Plow Company of Illinois. An office building for the firm’s Texas Division, known as the Southern Rock Island Plow Company, was completed here four years later. In 1901 the five-story structure was destroyed by fire. That same year, under supervision of the company vice president and general manager F.B. Jones, work was completed on this structure. Built to resemble the earlier edifice, it features characteristics of the commercial Romanesque Revival Style.

In 1937 the Carraway Byrd Corporation purchased the property. Later, under the direction of D.H. Byrd, the building was leased to a variety of businesses, including the Texas School Book Depository.

On November 22, 1963, the building gained national notoriety when Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot and killed President John F. Kennedy from a sixth floor window as the Presidential Motorcade passed the site.”

The three photos below show several X’s painted on the street. These X’s mark the spot where JFK was hit. The top two photos were the first shot and the third photo shows another spot further down the road.

Dealey Plaza was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1993. You can see the marker and read more information in the photos or transcription below.

The text from the picture of the plaque on the right reads:

“Dealey Plaza was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1993. In recognition, the neighboring plaque was installed, aligned with the location of the fatal shot in the middle of Elm Street. Directly beyond the plaque and standing atop the white pedestal, Abraham Zapruder filmed the assassination with his home movie camera. Throughout the weekend, flowers and letters were brought to Dealey Plaza as expression of grief, sympathy and loss.”

Concluding Thoughts

Walking along the same route the Presidential Parade drove and standing near the X’s on the street was a humbling moment for me personally. I have taught about JFK’s assassination multiple times in my history classes and being able to stand in the same place was heavy. November 22, 1963 literally changed the course of United States history and I hope to be able to teach this section of my class with a new perspective.

I encourage you to look at the area you’re staying in when you travel because you never know what might be within walking distance of your hotel. I hope you’ll make a stop at Dealey Plaza if you’re ever in Downtown Dallas, Texas.

Visit

400 Main St.

Dallas, TX 75202

Sources

Historical markers on site.

The Sixth Floor Museum – website