|
Dealey Plaza (IPA pronunciation: ), in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA), is infamous as the location of the John F. Kennedy assassination on November 22, 1963.
History Dealey Plaza is a Dallas city park completed in 1940 on the west edge of downtown Dallas where three streets converge (Main Street, Elm Street, and Commerce Street) to pass under a railroad bridge known locally as the triple underpass. The plaza is named for George Bannerman Dealey (1859–1946), an early publisher of The Dallas Morning News and civic leader, and the man who had campaigned for the area's revitalization. Many believe the monuments outlining the plaza are there to honor President Kennedy, but they actually honor previous prominent Dallas residents and predate President Kennedy's visit by many years. The actual Dallas monument to Kennedy, in the form of a cenotaph, is located one block away. Dealey Plaza is historically known as the site of the first Masonic temple in Dallas (now razed), and there is a marker attesting to this fact in the plaza. Kennedy assassination
The "Grassy Knoll" The "grassy knoll" of Dealey Plaza is a small, sloping hill inside the plaza that became infamous following the John F. Kennedy assassination. The knoll was above President Kennedy and to his right (west and north) during the assassination on 22 November 1963. The north grassy knoll is bounded by the former Texas School Book Depository building along the Elm Street abutment side street to the northeast, Elm Street and a sidewalk to the south, a parking lot to the north and east, and a railroad bridge atop the triple underpass convergence of Commerce, Main, and Elm streets to the west. Located near the north grassy knoll on 22 November 1963, were several witnesses; three large traffic signposts; four sidewalk lamp posts; the John Neely Bryan north pergola cement structure, including its two enclosed shelters; a tool shed; one 3.3 foot (1 m) high cement wall connected to each of the pergola shelters; ten tall, wide, low-hanging live oak trees; a 5 foot (1.5 m) tall, wooden, cornered, stockade fenceline approximately 176 feet (53.6 m) long; six street curb sewers openings, their sewer manholes, and their interconnecting large pipes; and numerous 2 to 6 foot (0.6 to 1.8 m) tall bushes, trees, and hedges. Behind the picket fence was the train control tower which Lee Bowers was working in during the assassination; He claimed to have seen several strangers in the area minutes before the assassination; he also claimed to have seen "a flash of light or smoke or something" behind the fence on the grassy knoll at the time of the shooting. Because of persistent debate, answered and unanswered questions, and conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination and the possible related role of the grassy knoll, the term "grassy knoll" has come to also be a modern slang expression indicating suspicion, conspiracy, or a cover-up. | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
 |
|
| |