July 5, 2002
Dallas began as trading outpost at a ford across the Trinity River in 1841, rapidly growing to become the nation's largest inland city. Nevertheless, it has yet to be recognized as the cosmopolitan center it aspires to be - visitors are more interested in the image of oil and cowboys fostered by the television show Dallas.
Historic Dallas, which is encircled by the present-day downtown, can easily be seen on a walking tour. Before you start walking you may ride to the top of Reunion Tower or Texas Commerce Tower, to get a feel for the city.
Oli and I stopped on our way to Austin just for a few hours in Dallas - we strolled around downtown and visited the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. On the corner of Houston Ave and Elm St, the notorious 6th floor of the former Texas School Book Depository still gives you the chill as you look out the window through which Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired the shot that killed President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. This floor, which is now converted into a museum, traces the dramatic and macabre moments of the assassination in various media. To the south of the depository, Elm St runs through Dealey Plaza, a national landmark and location of the infamous grassy knoll, which Kennedy's convertible passed as the shots were fired. Philip Johnson's Memorial to Kennedy looms nearby at Market and Main.
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Texas Travel Information Center
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
Dallas City Hall
The Dallas Morning News
Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau
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