Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
A plaza at the edge of downtown.
An introduction to the west end of downtown Dallas, where the former Texas School Book Depository looks over Dealey Plaza.
On this page
Where the streets converge
Dealey Plaza lies on the west edge of downtown Dallas, where Main, Elm and Commerce Streets converge to pass under a railway bridge known locally as the triple underpass. The land was donated by Sarah Horton Cockrell, and the site is often called the birthplace of Dallas.
A city guide can give context without turning a place of remembrance into a backdrop. Notice how the streets meet, how the buildings frame the plaza, and how close everything is.
Brick, stone and concrete
The former depository is a seven-storey brick warehouse of 1901. Across Houston Street, the Dallas County Records Building of 1928 is built of cut limestone with Gothic detailing, and the triple underpass is a plain concrete railway bridge built under the Works Progress Administration.
Begin with a detail and ask how it was made, repaired and maintained. A photograph alone cannot tell you who laid the brick or set the stone, or the conditions in which they worked.
A place of remembrance
About a block from the plaza, at 600 Main Street, the John F. Kennedy Memorial designed by Philip Johnson is an open, roofless space enclosed by concrete walls, with a black granite slab bearing the President’s name.
Look at the plaza as both a working part of the city and a place many people come to quietly.
Make room for context
Pair this city reading with the building’s history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places, commissions their restoration or represents their makers.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
