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Downtown Dallas, TX

I lived in the Dallas area from 1988 to 1991, but somehow had never had much of a reason to explore downtown. Alot had changed in 20 years and on a trip there in 2010 I had 90 minutes to occupy, so I walked around a bit.

Perhaps Downtown Dallas' most popular tourist attraction is also its most macabre. On 22 November 1963, US President John Kennedy was assassinated as he rode through a motorcade in Dealey Plaza. The plaza itself was built in 1940 as a WPA project memorializing the founding of Dallas and it was named after civic leader George Bannerman Dealey (1859 - 1946). However, it is better remembered for the death of a president than the birth of a city.

Assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was stationed in the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building. An additional assassin may have been located on the "grassy knoll" on the north side of the street. Two X's on the Elm Street pavement mark the approximate locations of the Kennedy's limousine when two of the shots hit him. Visitors wait for traffic to pass and run out into the street to have their pictures taken on those two spots. Them's my people, y'all.

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