JFK History in Dallas

Dealey Plaza, nicknamed the birthplace of Dallas, was also the location of the Kennedy assassination. Now a National Historic Landmark, the park is home to the now-famous grassy knoll from where some witnesses claimed the shots originated. JFK history tours often begin at this now iconic location in downtown Dallas.

Situated in Dealey Plaza, the Sixth Floor Museum occupies the Texas school book depository in the same building where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots believed to have killed Kennedy. Two floors of exhibits recount the events of the day through film, photographs, artifacts, and oral histories from eyewitnesses.

The Hilton Fort Worth—then known as the Texas Hotel—was where the Kennedys spent their final night together the day before his murder. While the original suite where the couple stayed is no longer there, room 808 sits near the same location. Old photographs of the Kennedys hang throughout the hotel.

Visitors who wish to pay respects to the fallen president can do so at John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza, a roofless granite monument with the president’s name engraved in gold. Created by architect Philip Johnson as an open tomb, the structure symbolizes JFK’s free spirit, while its free-floating design reflects the strong emotion of loss the nation—and the world—felt after President Kennedy was killed.