Dealey Plaza is famous for many things, both locally and nationally.
Considered the front door of Dallas, the park rests on a bluff near the
Trinity River, where Dallas's founder, John Neely Bryan, identified a
natural low-water crossing in 1841. This ford was the site of Bryan's
cabin and was also the site of the first ferry and bridge over the
Trinity River. Home to several Dallas County buildings and other
historic structures, Dealey is not just the birthplace of Dallas; it is
also the site of Dallas's first large-scale city planning solution, a
traffic diverting triple underpass, and a beautiful downtown park built
in the 1930s. The park was launched into national history when Pres.
John F. Kennedy was assassinated here on November 22, 1963. Today, the
site is visited by over two million annually. To preserve Dealey Plaza
and its surrounding buildings, the federal government designated it a
National Historic Landmark District in 1993.