Place · United States
The history of Dallas
Assembled from 2 dug tiles · 29 sourced records · 1839–2025 · last reviewed 16 October 2026
Dallas gathers two very different grounds: the downtown park where a bluff-top trading post became the city, and later the site of a president's assassination, and a stretch of North Houston Street where an old power plant gave way to a $420 million arena built to keep the Mavericks and Stars at home.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Dallas — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Dallas
A 1940s park where a president was shotThis point sits inside the historic district where Dealey Plaza now stands, a city park at the west end of downtown Dallas. Dealey Plaza
1839–2025 The building that outraced two team owners' patience
Twenty years after Reunion Arena opened, Dallas raised $420 million to keep the Mavericks and Stars from leaving. American Airlines Center
1841–2022
Dallas in layers
Victory Tower (Dallas)
The Victory Tower, proposed to stand over 400 feet tall and be the city's tallest building under construction, was ultimately canceled. Wikipedia
near the JFK memorial, Houston and Main Streets
Dallas Police sent the bomb squad to Dealey Plaza after a security guard found a suspicious briefcase near the JFK memorial, close to Houston and Main Streets. CBS DFW
the bluff above the Trinity ford
In 1839 Tennessee lawyer John Neely Bryan chose this high bluff and shallow ford on the Trinity River for a trading post, returned in 1841 to find few Native people left, and platted a town he called Dallas. Texas Historical Commission
Greenwood Cemetery
Greenwood Cemetery holds William Lewis Cabell, who served three terms as Dallas mayor and as a Confederate general, along with judges, ranchers and the businesswoman Sarah Horton Cockrell. Wikidata burials
outside the Dallas County courthouse
Jane Elkins, enslaved and accused without real defense in the 1853 bludgeoning death of Andrew Wisdom, was convicted by an all-white jury in six days and hanged outside the courthouse on May 27, 1853, the first woman legally hanged in Texas. Texas Historical Commission
near the Trinity River crossing
Alexander Cockrell, who bought the Dallas townsite from founder John Neely Bryan and built the city's bridge and sawmill, died on April 3, 1858, in an altercation over an unpaid debt. Texas Historical Commission
site now called Martyrs Park
After a fire destroyed most of downtown Dallas on July 8, 1860, a vigilance committee of 100 white men ordered all enslaved people in the city whipped, then hanged three enslaved men, Sam Smith, Patrick Jennings, and "Old Cato," without trial on July 24, 1860. Texas Historical Commission
Old Cumberland Hill School
Old Cumberland Hill School, built in 1888 on the site of a pre-Civil War church school, later drew students of many nationalities and earned that nickname before closing as a vocational center in 1969. Texas Historical Commission plaque
Old Red Courthouse, across Houston Street
The fifth Dallas County courthouse, known as Old Red, was built between 1890 and 1892 in the Romanesque Revival style, after four earlier courthouses on the same ground burned or were replaced. Texas Historical Commission
corner of Elm and Houston Streets
The five-story warehouse built here in 1898 for the Southern Rock Island Plow Company burned after being struck by lightning in 1901, and the surviving seven-story building that replaced it on the same foundation became the Texas School Book Depository. Texas Historical Commission
near Main and Akard Streets, via the old county courthouse
On March 3, 1910, a mob pulled 60-year-old Allen Brooks from a courthouse hearing, threw him from a second-floor window, then dragged him half a mile down Main Street and hanged him from a telephone pole before an estimated 5,000 onlookers. Texas Historical Commission
Pike Park
Bought by the city in 1912-13 as Summit Play Park, renamed for park board member Edgar L. Pike in 1927, it became a wartime gathering place for Mexican-American servicemen and still hosts Cinco de Mayo and Diez y Seis de Septiembre celebrations. Texas Historical Commission plaque
Dallas County Criminal Courts Building
Dallas County bought this site in 1913 for a new jail and courts building, finished in 1915 with cells for 200 prisoners above two large district courtrooms. Texas Historical Commission
St. Ann's School
Built in 1927, the historic school building is a designated Dallas Landmark. Wikidata
Luna Tortilla Factory
The Luna Tortilla Factory, built in 1938 in what was then Little Mexico, is a designated Dallas Landmark. Wikidata
Dallas County Courthouse area
Texas voters approved letting women serve on juries on November 2, 1954, and that November Adelyne Dransfield became one of the first female jury foremen in Dallas County. Texas Historical Commission
Cabana Motor Hotel
The Cabana Motor Hotel, listed on the National Register, was a Dallas hotel connected to the days around the Kennedy assassination in November 1963. Wikidata
Elm Street, Dealey Plaza
President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed as his motorcade passed Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963, with Lee Harvey Oswald firing from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository above. JFK Library
Dallas County Criminal Courts Building
In 1964 Jack Ruby stood trial in the east courtroom of the Dallas County Criminal Courts Building for killing Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of assassinating Kennedy. Texas Historical Commission
Emanu-El Cemetery
Abraham Zapruder, whose home-movie camera captured the 1963 assassination, is buried at Emanu-El Cemetery about 2 kilometers from this spot. Wikidata burials
Murder of Santos Rodriguez
Santos Rodriguez was shot and killed by a police officer on July 24, 1973, a killing that shook Dallas's Mexican-American community, the same community Pike Park served nearby. Wikidata
Dallas County Administration Building, formerly the Texas School Book Depository
The Sixth Floor Museum opened on Presidents' Day, February 20, 1989, on the floor Oswald fired from, examining Kennedy's life, death, and legacy. Wikipedia
Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza was designated a National Historic Landmark district on October 12, 1993, the 30th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, to preserve the buildings visible from the shooting. Sixth Floor Museum
American Airlines Center
The multi-purpose arena, home to the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, opened on July 17, 2001, at a cost of $420 million. Wikipedia
Questions about Dallas
What is Dallas known for historically?
Dallas is known as the site of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, shot on November 22, 1963, as his motorcade passed along Elm Street through Dealey Plaza, a city park built between 1934 and 1940 and later named a National Historic Landmark in 1993.
What happened at Dealey Plaza in 1963?
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dealey Plaza as his motorcade passed along Elm Street at the west end of downtown Dallas.
What stood on the ground before Dealey Plaza was built?
The ground had earlier served as a trading post and later a plow warehouse before the park was built between 1934 and 1940.
Why was American Airlines Center built on North Houston Street?
Dallas voters funded the $420 million arena, which opened July 17, 2001, using a hotel tax and rental car tax after the Mavericks and Stars sought to leave Reunion Arena, roughly twenty years after that older arena had opened.
What occupied the land before American Airlines Center was built?
The arena was built on ground once occupied by an old power plant, in what is now the Victory Park district, itself risen around a former industrial stretch of the Trinity River flats.
Is there a museum connected to the Kennedy assassination in Dallas?
Yes, the Sixth Floor Museum opened in the former Texas School Book Depository building, now the Dallas County Administration Building, overlooking Dealey Plaza.