History Of Dealey Plaza

The Lay of the Land

This high resolution CAD rendering of Dealey Plaza shows the salient features of the Plaza, which was a WPA project at the edge of Dallas' downtown. Done by Paul Burke, it is included here by permission.

History and Dealey Plaza

The history of this unique piece of ground is put into perspective in two essays by Jerry Organ:
A history of Dealey Plaza, from the founding of Dallas by John Neely Bryan through the WPA project in the 1930s that created the Plaza to the 1960s when Dallas was unfairly labelled the "City of Hate."
A history of the Texas School Book Depository, which has served as a plow factory, a wholesale grocery warehouse, and textbook distribution center, and (most recently) a museum.
Where Did the Term "Grassy Knoll" Come From?

Lots of people claim to have invented the term "Grassy Knoll," but only one man did. Here is the scoop from Gary Mack, Curator of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. I'll give you a hint: it wasn't Jean Hill.
The Knoll at the Time of the Shooting

Tons of "suspicious" goings on: The "Black Dog Man," "Badgeman," the "rush to the Knoll" by witnesses in the wake of the shooting, and "smoke on the Knoll." These are all topics dealt with in "'Smoke' on the Grassy Knoll" by Jerry Organ.
The Umbrella Man

Was this fellow, standing in Dealey Plaza with an open umbrella and no rain in sight part of some conspiracy? The House Select Committee on Assassinations located the Umbrella Man -- a fellow named Louis Witt who was engaged in a somewhat obscure form of political protest. Here are two graphics, one showing Louis Witt's umbrella being opened before the House Select Committee on Assassinations, to the general merriment of all assembled. The second shows the Umbrella Ma...

... middle of paper ...

...tly possible for an object hit by a bullet to move in the direction from which the bullet came. Richard Trott demonstrates this by shooting melons. Here is his first melon, and here is his second. This "jet effect" phenomenon was first suggested, and experimentally demonstrated by physicist Luis Alvarez. Trott shows that the average citizen with a rifle can recreate the effect. Lattimer's skull shooting experiment

Dr. John Lattimer reproduced Alvarez' results with human skulls, and with a rifle and ammunition identical to those Oswald used. Clicking on the image at right will download a video clip of one of Lattimer's shooting experiments.

To play the clip, you will need Real Player. Video clips on this site are of too high a resolution to "stream" unless you have a broadband connection. If not, download the clip to your hard drive, and you can play it from there.