THAT DAY IN 1963

(MARCH 18, 2018) Today will be my final day in Dallas. After being here for the last 5-days, it's time to move on, but not before exploring some of the sites relating to that horrible day in 1963.

I first visited Dealey Plaza back in 1984 when my dad and I were traveling to California to Visit my Sister and Mom for Christmas.  During that visit the Texas School Book Depository was not open and if I remember correctly it was still being used as a warehouse. But we did get to walk around Dealey Plaza and see such sites at the Zapruder Perch, the Grassy Knoll and the Book Depository from various spots along Houston and Elm Streets. Even though it was a very cold December day I remember gets chills as I walked along Elm Street and stood at the sites that I had seen over 20 years earlier on a grainy black and white TV.

Elm Street from the 7th floor of the Book Depository

I returned to Dealey Plaza in 2006 when I was in Dallas for the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Again as I walk down Elm Street I got the same chill as I was again walking past sites seen in those black and white TV images. During this visit the Book Depository had been transformed into the 6th Floor Museum and was open for Tours. We were able to look out the same 6th Floor window that Lee Harvey Oswald use to fire the shots that Killed President John Kennedy. The chills returned as I looked at the reconstructed snipers nest and looked down Elm Street just as Oswald had done more than 40-years earlier.

Today, I returned once again to Dealey Plaza and just as before the chills returned as I walked down Elm Street. After all, I was just a small child back in 1963 and those scenes that I had watched on TV  that weekend more than 50 years ago were my first recollections of history.

Today I once again toured the 6th Floor Museum and views the sniper perched and looked out the same window that Oswald did. There are no photography allowed on the 6th floor so I made my way up to the 7th floor and snapped a few photos from the window directly above Oswald's 6th Floor Window.

The Cattle Drive in Pioneer Park

While I spend a good amount of time in Dealey Plaza, I did manage to walk a few blocks down Young Street to Pioneer Park.  This is the second most visited site in Dallas, behind only Dealey Plaza.

Pioneer Park is noted for the large sculpture that commemorates a 19th Century cattle drive. The 49 bronze steers and three trail riders were created by Robert Summers of Glen Rose, Texas. Each of the Longhorns is slightly larger than life and is set along a rocky ridge with the herd traveling through a man made stream.

It is an amazing site and one well worth a visit if you find yourself in the historic district. It is an easy half mile walk from Dealey Plaza.

After completing my visit to Pioneer Park I wanted to sorta retrace Lee Harvey Oswald's steps following the shooting of President Kennedy.

Oswald's Rooming House on North Beckely

After shooting the President, Oswald left the book depository and made his by by city bus to his rooming house at 1026 North Beckley Street. It it believed that he stopped here just long enough to pick up a pistol.

After spending only a few minutes at his rooming house he walked a short distance down Patton Street. It was at the Intersection of 10th and Patton that he was stopped by Dallas Police Office J. D. Tippit.  The two me had a brief conversation and Oswald pulled the pistol and shot Tippit, fatally wounding him.

The corner of 10th & Patton - where Oswald shot Tippit

Following the Tippit shooting, Oswald made his way down West Jefferson Street where he was seen acting suspiciously by businessman Johnny Brewer. Brewer watch Oswald enter the Texas Theater and summoned police.

Dallas Police Officers entered the theater and after a brief struggle, took Oswald into custody. He was formally charged with the murder of Officer Tippit at 7:10 that evening and was the prime suspect in the assassination of President Kennedy. At 1:00 a.m. on November 23, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was formally charged with the murder of the President.

Oswald fled to the Texas Theater on W. Jefferson St.

We all know that on November 24, 1963 night club owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald in the Basement of the Dallas City Jail as he be being transferred to the Dallas County Jail.

After leaving the Oak Cliffs Section and the Texas Theater, I made my way down to Fort Worth Blvd, and a quick stop at Western Heights Cemetery. The cemetery is somewhat over grown and in a state of disrepair. The area is not the safest but I wanted to make a quick stop and visit the grave of gangsters Clyde and Buck Barrow.

I had no trouble finding the marker. Just follow the well worn path through the weeds. Buried next to the brothers parents Henry and Cumie. Just a short distance away down Singleton Blvd., is the brothers boyhood home. I made a very, very quick stop for a photo here before moving on toward Fort Worth.

It was a quick and easy drive out Interstate 30 to South Fort Worth and a quick stop at Shannon Rose Hill Cemetery.  I wanted to end my tour of the sites related to the Kennedy Assassination with a stop at the grave of Lee Harvey Oswald.

Lee Harvey Oswald was buried here on November 25, 1963. With only his mother, wife and brother present, news reporters acted as pallbearers and carried the casket containing Oswald's body to his final resting place.

Several tombstones have marked Oswald's grave site and they were either stolen or vandalized. Today a simple pink granite stone with the name "OSWALD" marks his grave.

Following my visit to Shannon Rose Hill I made my way back about 10-mile east to Arlington, Texas. It is here in this city between Dallas and Fort Worth on I-30 that is home to the Texas Ranger and the Dallas Cowboys.

AT&T Stadium

I made a quick stop for photos at the mammoth AT&T Stadium or the House that Jerry Built.  It is the home of the Dallas Cowboys as well as the site of the Cotton Bowl and a number of other high profile sporting events.

Just across the street is Globe Life Park, which is home to the Texas Ranger. This very nice ballpark opened in 1994 and today has been deemed obsolete and a new stadium is being constructed across the street and is set to open in 2020. This is unbelievable to me that a ballpark this nice and this new is being replaced.

Globe Life Park

After snapping a bunch of photo at each stadium, it was time to bid farewell to the Metroplex and head south toward Alvarado where I am spending the night.

Tomorrow its off to Waco and see what I can find there.


TODAY'S MILES:     96
TOTAL MILES:     2398