One of the most infamous landmarks in Dallas is the Texas School Book Depository located at 411 Elm Street in the heart of downtown Dallas.
According to the Warren Commission Report, it was from a sixth story window in the building the Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal shots that took the life of President John Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The site which the building occupies was originally owned by John Neely Bryant, the founder of Dallas in the late 1840s, but a variety of businesses have operated from that location over the years. For example, in the 1880s there was a wagon shop on the property, and in 1894 the Rock Island Plow Shop purchased the location and erected a five-story building on the site. When a fire caused a lightning strike destroyed that structure in 1901, Rock Island erected the current building using the foundation of the original edifice.
In 1937 Rock Island sold the property to Carraway-Byrd Corporation, but when that operation defaulted on its loan, noted Texas oil man Harold Byrd bought the building. Some years later, Byrd leased the building to the Texas School Book Depository, which remained its status until the JFK assassination. The infamous 6th floor from which Oswald fired the fatal shots was closed to the public for the next 25 years.
Byrd sold the building in 1970 to Aubrey Mayhew, a developer from Nashville, Tenn., who envisioned transforming the building into a museum to honor the fallen President. However, a fire, thought to be arson, destroyed part of the structure in 1972, preventing Mayhew from completing his project. When the property went into foreclosure, it was once again returned to the Byrd family.
A 1977 attempt to demolish the building was blocked when Dallas County purchased the property and converted it into space for administrative offices. Finally the idea of a museum to honor President Kennedy became a reality in 1989. The Dallas County Historical Society in conjunction with the Texas Historical Commission directed the construction of exhibits on the infamous 6th floor, highlighting the life, career, and assassination of Kennedy. It opened on Presidents’ Day in 1989 with photographs, documents, and other memorabilia detailing the Kennedy years. Visitors today can stand at the window from which the fatal shots were fired and see what Oswald saw that fateful day. The Sixth Floor Museum is among the leading tourist attractions in the Metroplex.
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Dr. Tommy Stringer is executive director of the Navarro College Foundation. His radio program, “Texas Legends,” airs at 6:55 a.m. weekdays on KAND Radio.
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