Dealey Plaza, a generally rectangular and approximately 3-acre park, was formed in 1934-40 from several blocks of Dallas founder John Neely Bryan’s original land grant. The Plaza replaced residential and commercial buildings on the tract. The land was acquired by the City of Dallas during the 1930’s to create a major gateway to the city from the west, and to relieve traffic congestion at the Union terminal railroad tracks which passed north-south at the western edge of the city. Originally called the "Elm-Main-Commerce Subway", the gateway was conceived as a "triple underpass" of streets, which afforded access to the western edge of Downtown Dallas beneath the Union Terminal company tracks. To build the underpass, engineers regraded the area to slope gently down toward the west. All plans for the Plaza showed a rectangular park traversed by three streets rearranged in a bisected triangle – Commerce to the south, Main in the middle, and Elm to the north converging to the west in the Triple Underpass.
The plaza and roadway were designed by city engineers, with assistance in the final plan from E.F. Mitchell, chief engineer for the Texas & Pacific Railroad and Union Terminal Company. The joint federal-city-railroad project was supervised by the Texas Highway Department. The park was named Dealey Plaza in 1935, in honor of George Bannerman Dealey (1859-1946), an outstanding civic leader who had advocated city planning for Dallas for decades already, publisher of The Dallas Morning News, crusader for improvements to the Trinity River corridor, and president of West of Commerce Realty Company, which had donated most of the right of way west of the underpass. The Plaza was dedicated in 1936, the same year the park was placed under the administration of the City of Dallas Park Board, which still maintains jurisdiction over it.
In addition to Dealey Plaza (its features and the streets that run through and adjoin it), the buildings, structures, and lands adjacent to Dealey Plaza, except for the Sixth Floor Visitor Center and the Kennedy Memorial and its Plaza, were all part of the scene in 1963. Two of the buildings (the former Texas School Book Depository and the Dallas Textile Building), like others in the West End, began as early 20th-century Dallas warehouses for Chicago farm implement companies. Like their main commercial tenants, their architecture reflects the influence of Chicago in this case, that city’s early skyscraper construction. The other buildings (like the one above) have had governmental functions and reflect more traditional architectural styles.
The Dallas County Criminal Courts Building (aka "Old Criminal Courts Building") was designed in an eclectic Renaissance Revival style by Dallas architect A.H. Overbeck. It was constructed in 1913-15 on the northeast corner of Main and Houston streets. The 124-foot-tall building faces Main Street, with a secondary facade occupying 90 feet along Houston Street on Dealey Plaza. The steel and brick structure, eight stories over a basement, is trimmed with granite and terra cotta in elaborate Classical motifs. The building was constructed to house two Dallas County criminal courts, the offices of the Sheriffs Department, and the County jail. The building retains its exterior details today, which were restored by Komatsu Associates of Fort Worth in the mid-1980’s. The building was still in its original use and occupancy in 1963 but was later only occupied by the County Sheriffs Department who continues to use the space today with prisoners being housed in the included jail spaces.
On April 19, 1993, the Dealey Plaza Historic District (including Dealey Plaza and as many as eight ‘other’ builidngs and numerous other sites/structures/objects) was named as a National Historic Landmark (NHL) and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). All of the information above was found on the original documents submitted for consideration of listing as a NHL and on the NRHP. There is much more included on these documents that can be viewed here:
npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/88315def-c6a9-408b-ac2a-b…
Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.
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Posted by J.L. Ramsaur Photography on 2025-03-14 15:21:38
Tagged: , Dallas County Criminal Courts building , NRHP #93001607 , Dallas County Criminal Courts , Old Criminal Courts Building , Dealey Plaza , NHL & NRHP #93001607 , site of JFK Assassination , 3-acre park , formed in 1934-40 , George Bannerman Dealey , National Register of Historic Places , NRHP , history , historic , History is All Around Us , American Relics , Fading America , It’s a Retro World After All , Old and Beautiful , historic site , site of a historic event , National Historic Landmark , NHL , Historic Landmark , Dealey Plaza Monument , Gateway to Dallas , Dealey Plaza Historic District , West End Historic District , JFK , President John F. Kennedy , November 22, 1963 , John F. Kennedy , Downtown Dallas , Downtown Dallas, TX , assassignation site , assassination of the 35th President of the United States , President Lyndon B. Johnson , Lyndon B. Johnson , Texas History , Birthplace of Dallas , Dallas, Texas , Dallas , Texas , Dallas, TX , Dallas County, Texas , JLR Photography , Nikon D7200 , Nikon , D7200 , photography , 2024 , Engineers with cameras , Photography for God , The South , Southern Photography , Scream of the Photographer , iBeauty , J.L. Ramsaur Photography , Tennessee Photographer , The Lone Star State , Deep in the Heart of Texas , Big D , D-Town , Triple D , Pegasus City , 214 , DFW , The Metroplex , Renaissance Revival style , A.H. Overbeck , Renaissance Revival architecture , Renaissance Revival design , constructed in 1913-15 , Komatsu Associates , restored in the mid-1980’s
