The Texas School Book Depository, now known as the Dallas County Administration Building, is a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. The building was Lee Harvey Oswald's vantage point in his assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Oswald, an employee at the depository, shot and mortally wounded President Kennedy from a sixth floor window on the building's southeastern corner; Kennedy died at Parkland Memorial Hospital. The structure is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, located at 411 Elm Street on the northwest corner of Elm and North Houston Streets, at the western end of downtown Dallas.
The site of the building was originally owned by John Neely Bryan. During the 1880s, Maxime Guillot operated a wagon shop on the property. In 1894, the Rock Island Plow Company bought the land, and four years later constructed a five-story building for its Texas division, the Southern Rock Island Plow Company. In 1901, the building was hit by lightning and nearly burned to the ground. It was rebuilt in 1902 in the Commercial Romanesque Revival style and expanded to seven stories. In 1937, the Carraway Byrd Corporation purchased the property, but they defaulted on the loan. It was sold at public auction July 4, 1939 and purchased by D. Harold Byrd.
Monday | 12:00 – 6:00 PM |
Tuesday | 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
Wednesday | 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
Thursday | 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
Friday | 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
Saturday | 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
Sunday | 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
Jessica Becker | Feb 11, 2018
A must see museum for anyone coming to Dallas. Especially if you are a history buff like myself! Very well done museum that gives you an audio guided tour. I would pause mine to read the exhibits which included more information than the audio guide. My ticket was included in the City Pass that I bought so it also allowed me to skip the line that was waiting to pick up their ticket which saved me about 20 minutes! The staff was also very nice and polite.
Tracy Willard | Jan 16, 2018
I went into this tour not expecting a whole bunch. My grandparents were in town and I wanted to do something they would enjoy. Neither of them are history buffs, but they were in their 20s at the time of the assassination. It brought back memories for them both that they had forgotten about. They loved it. I personally, hadn't known a whole lot about Kennedy's impact. It was a great tour and I would recommend it to anyone! (Except for those with small children) My 6 yr old had a hard time staying interested.
Ivan Jones | Feb 10, 2018
Parking is a little weird here but once you get parked, head inside and buy your entrance ticket. Your ticket comes with a guided audio tour. It is a small building with a lot of information packed in. It is also a popular museum and crowded. Without the audio guide I would never have been able to read the signage. Artifacts are well presented and the display cases are designed to show the object to a crowd. Be prepared to feel a wave of emotions as you travel through the legacy of one of America's most loved presidents.
Michael Henshaw | Feb 25, 2018
Add a few hours off to check out this Museum and it's awesome. This gives a great history lesson about the assassination and offers a fantastic vantage point of the location. If you can plan ahead buying tickets in advance will save time waiting in line. We just showed up and had to wait 45 minutes so it wasn't so bad and that was on a Saturday morning.
Jeremy.Decker | Dec 18, 2017
I did not go into the Museum as it was closed, rather i just visited the outside memorial. Stopped by while on a work trip and it was worth the quick stop. The walkway is very nice and there is a lot of room to stop and take in this historic landmark. Very nice area downtown and close to the American Airlines center, shops and restaurants. If you are in the area, it is certainly worth the trek. I loved this part of town as it is also very close to Katy Park. Not a very large but it is enough information to keep you occupied for a bit.
Kristine Eadie | Mar 25, 2018
I would give 10 stars. This was worth every dollar. Not so great for young kids due to the intense history details. But if they are along there is no graphic depiction. They just might be bored. The tour is extremely well-done. You will have a very clear understanding of this historic event. If you immerse yourself you could spend two or more hours here.
Hannah Love | Apr 3, 2018
I wouldn't have chosen to go here myself, but the friend I was with made the plans. We took an audio tour of the whole place which was about 2 hours long. It's a sad story with mostly pictures and a few old videos along the way. It was pretty interesting. We took pics on the shooting spots in the road, and the grassy knoll.
Kyle Riesner | Mar 31, 2018
Fascinating place to understand an important day in our country. Audio guide was given and you roamed around the sixth floor museum. It describe me JFK before presidency and the climate that our country was in before and during the start of his presidency. Cold War, Social and racial issues, the events of the prior couple days before he was shot. This gives you good time period to set your mind in for that fateful day in November 1963. The rapid reporting and investigation that follows. After done with the museum go outside and see the X’s on the road, indicating where he was shot.
Krystal Gonzalez | Mar 14, 2018
This is truly a unique and incredible place. It can be quite overwhelming with all of the information provided, but it is so worth it. This is a perfect example of a museum done right. There is a huge amount of information given during the self guided tour and there is so much to see. It is quite impressive to be in the same place where it all occured. I would highly recommend adding this to your itinerary when visiting Dallas!
Mark Cone | Apr 29, 2018
Great museum and fun experience. It is an even better experience in the middle of the week. Buy your tickets online, there was a massive line just to buy tickets, so I did it via my phone and then walked past everyone in line to pick mine up. The museum has times entrance so if you buy online you can pick when you want to enter. Once inside the museum is laid out chronologically and you wear headphones as you walk around. Overall, great visit.
shihyang lin | Apr 18, 2018
The museum not bad, but this place is super crowded. The price is $16 per person. Parking is $6 behind the building. We wait in line 15 minutes to buy our ticket and wait another 30 minutes to get inside the museum, and it was a Monday afternoon. The audio guided tour was well-designed, but I don't know why we can't take photo in the Museum. Because the whole tour was basically a series of photos. It takes me about 3 hours to finish the tour. However, I think this is still the must-see in Dallas. So come early if you want to see everything.
Jeff Sacco | Apr 22, 2018
This is a wonderful testament to the life of JFK and the events of that fateful day. It is very smoothly run operation. My recommendation is to purchase your tickets in advance online and show up about 15 minutes early for your tour. Headphones are of great quality and laid out very professionally. Overall very impressed with the museum.
JohnB 00007 | May 19, 2018
Very detailed. Both sad and interesting at the same time. They have audio tours. I had problems with my headphones several times. I just finished the tour without them. See the place where Oswald fired his shots. Very chilling. We were there about 2 hours and could have stayed much longer to read everything but we had to travel. Worth seeing.
Ashley Jamal | May 16, 2018
This museum is located downtown in a very scenic part of Dallas. Unfortunately the lines on Saturday can be very long. It took us over 30 minutes to get tickets and into the museum. The actual museum was very informative, with a great audio guide included in the ticket. Again, there were lines so it was a bit slow going to get through the museum. My recommendation is it try to go during the week with there are less crowds. Overall, I really enjoyed the museum and I did learn a lot.
Michael G | Jun 2, 2018
This is a great place if you're into museums that promote false history. They do not allow photography inside, probably because of all the lies this Museum promotes. All that being said, the museum is set up in a very nice way
Anthony Petekiewicz | Jul 10, 2018
This museum is able to accommodate huge amount of guests. It has any sensible flow system. You can flow through areas throughout the sixth floor museum self guided. I enjoyed the fact that I could remain and explore areas that I thought were important. Best to explore when you’re not in a rush and take your time. If an area is too crowded just wait a few moments and chances are guests will move through. Great for conspiracy and non-conspiracy buffs alike!
Oscar Portillo | Jun 20, 2018
This was my first visit to Dallas from NJ. And the sixth floor museum was my only must see attraction. And it did not disappoint. This was very informative. It takes you from when Kennedy is running for office up to when he was shot and present day. The audio tour guide was good as well. I wish more museums did this. I took one star off because of the lines and the no camera policy. There's two lines you have to wait through before you can actually enter the main exhibit. You can pass one line of you buy the tickets on the website. I get the camera policy. But it loses weight, when I look out the window and I see people take pictures of where JFK was actually shot. This should take you about two hours to complete which isn't so bad. Overall good experience.
Andy Lanier | Jun 13, 2018
Cool museum, came because I had an afternoon to kill and it seemed interesting and is a part of American history. Interesting displays with lots of photos. The audio tour was good, most of the information was on the panels so you could save a few bucks and just read it. They don’t allow photos on the sixth floor which is slightly obnoxious; they should at least allow you to take a picture along the windows adjacent to where Oswald took his shot.
billywitt | Jul 10, 2018
An essential and incredibly moving experience. I’m a native born Texan and have visited a great many Texas based attractions. None of them affected me the way this did. But please make sure to reserve online a day in advance. This museum stays packed with visitors from around the world.
Jay Taylor | Jul 7, 2018
An amazing and surreal experience detailing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. This museum, is a treasure that carefully takes the patrons back in time to November 22, 1963. The feeling of the old book depository building is vintage and important to set the scene. The view from above, literally is frozen in time. This is a must see when visiting Dallas.
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