John F. Kennedy - San Antonio, TX - Dedicated Trees on Waymarking.com

President John F. Kennedy visited San Antonio, TX to perform a dedication to the Space Medicine facilities at Brooks Air Force Base. This was his last official act as US President. He died the next day after being shot and killed while visiting Dallas, TX. President Kennedy initiated the US Space program just a few years earlier and was in San Antonio to dedicate medical facilities designed to research medical applications to weightless environments. This was an active result of what JFK had been building within his space exploration initiatives. He was warmly received during his one day in San Antonio.

The ceramic and hand-cast terra cotta plaque mounted on a small pillar on the retaining wall encircling the dedicated tree reads as follows:

KENNEDY MEMORIAL TREE
This Thornless Moraine Honeylocust from the
Kennedy estate at Hyannisport, Massachusetts
was presented to the San Antonio River Authority
through the efforts of Senator Edward M. Kennedy
and was planted on April 24, 1966 in memory of
JOHN F. KENNEDY
35th President of the United States of America"

A small portion of the San Antonio River Mission Reach has been named J.F. Kennedy Park . It is the bottom end of the larger Espada Park that begins south of SE Military Dr./Hwy 13 and follows Mission Pkwy southward on the west bank of the San Antonio River until the road crosses over the river to its east bank. There is a parking lot within sight of the memorial tree at coordinates N29 20.766 W098 27.880. As you stand at the memorial tree reading the plaque, to your left will be the spillway of a portion of the original Spanish irrigation channel or acequia. This portion of the acequia has an informational plaque stating this is the oldest continuously-used Spanish built diversion dam in Texas! Its waters are now providing subterranean moisture to this Kennedy Memorial Tree, thus perpetuating the link San Antonio has with the 35th US President, John F. Kennedy!

Nov 21, 1963 new articles and photos of JFK's San Antonio visit:
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Location of the tree: In a small park, along the Mission Reach beside Mission Pkwy before it crosses over the San Antonio River. It is between the river and the Espada Dam's acequia spillway Type of tree: Thornless Moraine Honeylocust

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Date Logged Log   12/02/2018 WayBetterFinder visited it