Dallas Textile (Dal-Tex) Building - Dealey Plaza Historic District - Dallas, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 32° 46.782 W 096° 48.477
14S E 705300 N 3628992
A 1905 map of Dallas shows the original building and its 1904 annex in place, with ownership ascribed to the Kingman-Texas Implements Company.
Waymark Code: WM114NK
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/15/2019
Views: 3
NRHP Nomination Form"This brick building, one of the earliest and most outstanding of the West End warehouses, was constructed in 1902 on the northeast corner of Elm and Houston streets. Its main facade faces Elm Street just east of Houston Street. A 7-story building, probably designed by the local firm of Hubbell and Greene, it displays Sullivanesque three-part form and detailing, including the stately solidity of the massing with heavy comer piers flanking the three bays, the unbroken pier central section, the projecting cornice, and the broad bands of geometric floral designs defining the main entrances. Similar in construction technique to the Depository, the structure has exterior brick load-bearing walls and an interior system of spaced millwork square beams with metal capitals. The 3-story brick annex to the north was added in 1904.
At the time of the assassination, the building was occupied by Dallas textile manufacturers and sales personnel, and went by the name Dallas Textile, or Dal-Tex Building. The structure had awnings in the first-floor windows and a metal fire escape on the west side near the corner of Elm and Houston streets.
The roof of the Dal-Tex Building and second and fourth floor windows have been identified as possible assassin's perches by conspiracy theorists. The office of Abraham Zapruder, who took the dramatic "home movie" of the assassination, was in this building.
In 1970-82, a private commercial business operated as the John F. Kennedy Museum in this building. It offered a film on the assassination and a diorama of the site and had a large commercial gift shop.
The building was extensively rehabilitated and remodeled in 1986 by architect Brent Byers. The work included full exterior restoration, replacing metal windows with custom wooden frames, cleaning and re-painting brickwork, and cleaning all interior surfaces. The interior of the annex was gutted and refitted as a parking garage. A terraced 3-story addition to the annex was effected and a multi-story atrium created in the center of the building. In 1986 the awnings and fire escape were removed and discarded. In 1989 the first-floor corner window on Houston Street near Elm was replaced with a doorway serving the restaurant in that comer, closely following the window outline. Concrete steps that project on the Houston Street side were added into the sidewalk area for pedestrian access."