The Sixth Floor Museum and Dealey Plaza are two Dallas landmarks, both indelibly linked to one of the most tragic events in American history – the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. President Kennedy was riding in an open limousine through Dealey Plaza when shots were fired from the sixth floor of what was then the Texas School Book Depository.
Today these two locations have been respectfully memorialized in honour of JFK. The Sixth Floor Museum has been painstakingly restored and holds many important artefacts from that tragic day, creating a most riveting museum.
Outside, Dealey Plaza looks much as it did in 1963 and visitors are able to linger on the grassy knoll from where so many had witnessed the assassination as the president’s motorcade drove by. Dealey Plaza is a National Historic Landmark and the buildings, streets and grounds are protected and preserved just as they appeared that day so many decades ago.
At the top of Dealey Plaza just metres from the grassy knoll sits the Sixth Floor Museum from where the shots rang out. The museum is filled with eye witness accounts, fascinating exhibits and many artefacts, all bringing the tragic event into stark and realistic focus.
Visitors can still look out the same window where the assassin knelt. Dallas was a city long scarred by the assassination and these solemn memorials act not only as significant historic sites for the nation but ones that helped heal a saddened city.
The Sixth Floor Museum and Dealey Plaza are located in the West End Historic District in downtown Dallas. Parking is located across the street in public car parks. Train service is available on The DART light rail system and the Trinity Railway Express from Union Station or West End Station, both within walking distance of the museum. If walking or driving from downtown, follow Elm Street in the direction of one way traffic. Elm Street leads directly to Dealey Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum.
