Dealey Plaza: Kennedy Assassination Site Draws Tourists and Conspiracy Theorists

A historical museum or a hotbed of conspiracy theories? Dallas' Dealey Plaza is a little bit of both, offering a museum devoted to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy while attracting conspiracy theorists who view the site as an outlet to express their beliefs.

The Sixth Floor Museum provides the historical view. The building has been cleared of most of the books that were warehoused there when Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot President John F. Kennedy. The space is now a museum that covers the events of November 22, 1963.

The public plaza outside the museum, though, teems with vendors and visitors who keep the conspiracy theories going. Vendors sell DVDs and books touting their various theories, while tourists seek out the grassy knoll and other spots that play roles in the plots.

I started with the museum, buying my $10 ticket and heading upstairs to the sixth floor. There the focal point is a glass-enclosed area that marks the spot by the corner window that Oswald reportedly used as his assassin's perch.

The boxes he used to hide his position, along with the one he may have sat on, have been moved. The museum has attempted to recreate the scene, even though investigators scattered the original boxes so quickly that historians are not sure precisely how they were arranged.

In another surrender to historical accuracy, the window in the display is a copy. The original window is the center of its own nearby display.

Visitors aren't allowed to stand behind Oswald's perch, but you can glance out of the window next to it. That offers a chillingly clear view of an "X" on the street below that marks the spot of the fatal shot to Kennedy's head.

Turning back to the museum, visitors can glance at the corner staircase - another area blocked off for viewing. It marks the spot where Oswald's rifle was found. Tourists have to be content with the staircase, though. The rifle is not on display.

Slowly, most tourists move away and glance at other exhibits. Most stop a continuous video - original newsreel footage covering Kennedy's arrival at Love Field and the motorcade toward the plaza. Another film recounts the hours leading to the president's funeral.

For a broader view, they can move to a 10-foot-by-10-foot diorama of Dealey Plaza and the surrounding building. The display was constructed by the FBI as part of their investigation and used in their presentation to the Warren Commission that investigated the assassination.

Also of interest is a collection of historic photos from the event, along with the cameras used to take the photos. The most memorable is the small 35mm Nikon used to capture the image of Jack Ruby shooting Oswald at the Dallas County Courthouse.

Visitors exit the museum and return to the bottom floor where a gift shop offers the typical souvenirs. The only thing unusual is the large number of DVDs available on the topic, a byproduct of the numerous documentaries and feature films about the assassination.

The tour's not over though. Exiting the gift shop puts you on the edge of Dealey Plaza itself. The first stop is that "X" on Elm Street. Tourists wait for the traffic lights to change, rush out to the X, and get their picture taken on the spot.

The grassy knoll attracts a lot of visitors itself. An independent vendor stands behind the white wall that some conspiracy theorists argue was the position of the real shooter.

The vendor draws a curious audience as he describes how an unknown assailant was seen by several witnesses on the spot where he stands. "Lee Harvey Oswald did not kill Kennedy," the man shouts. "He was part of the conspiracy, but not the shooter."

Fifteen yards away, another vendor stops those walking by as he espouses his own view - that Kennedy's death was a conspiracy that included the CIA, the FBI, and a variety of other government agencies. He offers books and DVDs that support his view, but seems more intent on converting unbelievers than in selling his wares.

The visitor can bypass both men and circle into the vacant lot that now serves as a parking lot for the museum. Coming up from the back, you can stand behind the board fence that some conspiracy supporters argue was the perch of another shooter.

Just off the plaza, this area seems to have been immune to the cleanliness and care shown on the rest of the area. The front of the fence is plain enough, but the backside - where the alleged shooter would have stood - is covered with graffiti. "The FBI did it" one line declares. "Mommy, Can I trust my government?" another asks.

Fans of the X-Files television series are drawn to a sewer culvert about 20 yards in front of the "X". This was the key position in that show's theory about Kennedy's death, i.e., that he was shot by the "Cigarette Smoking" man who lay in wait in that dirty place. Fans of the show are intrigued by the possibility, because it provides an explanation for why the president's head snapped back, as if he were shot from the front, when the fatal bullet hit.

"I know that's not how it happened," one fan of the show was heard to say as she walked toward the culvert, "but I want to see it anyway." She was followed by another fan of the show, a woman who had to explain the significance of the culvert to her husband.

The two women reflect both the public and individual interest in Dealey Plaza. After all, the Sixth Floor Museum cites surveys that say 80 percent of the American public believe Oswald acted alone in killing the popular president.

Maybe so. But conspiracies still live in Dealey Plaza.

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