A Pictorial History -- Dealey Plaza Through The Years

[David Von Pein]

Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas, throughout the years....

Click on each picture for more info and/or more photos:

1936:




CIRCA 1954:




NOVEMBER 22, 1963:




MAY 24, 1964:




OCTOBER 2012:



Many more Dealey Plaza pics here....

kennedy-photos.blogspot.com/2012/11/kennedy-gallery-270.html

Edited June 9, 2015 by David Von Pein

[David Von Pein]

1935:



11/25/63:



OCTOBER 2015:



jfk-archives.blogspot.com/2016/08/dealey-plaza-photos-dating-back-to-1935.html

Edited August 20, 2016 by David Von Pein

[Michael Walton]

Dave - nice job but I clicked on some of the photos on your site and they don't open into a larger photo. You may want to fix that.

[David Von Pein]

...I clicked on some of the photos on your site and they don't open into a larger photo. You may want to fix that.

But I never said that clicking the pictures would take you necessarily to an enlarged version. I merely wrote "Click each picture". (That's because some of the links go to other things besides just an enlargement.)

But since you brought it up, I think I will change the wording there, so people aren't misled.

(EDIT: It's fixed now. Thanks.)

Edited August 20, 2016 by David Von Pein

[Michael Walton]

Great thanks for fixing them.

[Brad Milch]

Very collectable photos. Thanks for sharing, David.

To put some fast history into a couple of the images: the 1935 photo was taken a year after the ambush of Bonnie & Clyde in N/W Louisiana (near Arcadia). The 1936 photo was taken 2 years after the ambush of B&C. LHO would be born 3 years after the 1936 photo. A lot of what I'm about to write next concerns the Dallas county jail (visible in both photos):

Bill Decker was flown to Arcadia to view the shot up bodies of B&C, killed on May 23, 1934. Decker worked for county sheriff Smoot Schmidt. Decker can be seen in photos taken after the ambush standing behind the bodies of B&C. The posse tracking B&C was actually Schmidt's men with the addition of former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer. Hamer was hired by director of Texas prisons Lee Simmons for the exclusive purpose of finding & killing B&C after B&C conducted a prison escape in early 1934. One of the prisoners B&C freed was Henry Methvin. Methvin's father would arrange the clemency deal that led to the ambush & death of B&C. None of the Texas or Louisiana lawmen consulted with the Louisiana Governor for permission to ambush & kill B&C. B&C were not wanted for crimes in Louisiana when they were killed. No evidence ever surfaced that Bonnie Parker ever fired a gun at anyone.

The B&C posse was being fed B&C tracking info from J. Edgar Hoover's Bureau of Investigation (pre-FBI)Louisiana agents. One of the posse members (Ted Hinton) had dated Bonnie Parker when she was a waitress on Commerce Street (close to Dealey Plaza) before Bonnie buddied up with Clyde Barrow. Hinton filmed the 8mm home movie of B&C slaughtered in their stolen Ford (stolen from Ruth Warren - the name Warren will pop up again in the JFK murder saga). One of B&C's gang members (Roy Hamilton) plus several of B&C relatives spent time in the county jail (same jail LHO was being transferred to when Jack Ruby killed him). A harsh letter B&C sent to gang member Raymond Hamilton while he sat in the Dallas County Jail (mailed 1 month before B&C were ambushed & murdered) is up for auction this month (Aug, 2016) for big bucks.

Lost & later found FBI files (Dallas Field Office File 26-4114) revealed Hoover had a B&C family informant on his payroll, B&C family phones were tapped & Hoover planned on his Louisiana & Texas Bureau Of Investigation agents participating in the ambush of B&C (if the agents could be notified in time to respond). Hoover knew of the deal to grant clemency for the murders of two Grapevine, Texas motorcycle police officers to B&C gang member (turned snitch) Henry Methvyn, in exchange for informing police & Hoover's agents the time & road B&C would be traveling to visit a Methvyn relative. That info opened the door for the ambush of B&C on May 23, 1934.

Wiretapping would surface again in the careers of Hoover, JFK & RFK. JFK had his secret White House recordings, while Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy authorized the use of wiretaps on select mafia figures. Hoover used wiretaps extensively to collect 'dirt' on persons he mistrusted (such as JFK, RFK, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz & other celebrities or political figures).

Bonnie Parker was still married to an inmate when she ran with Clyde Barrow. Bonnie had his name tattooed on her inner thigh & was wearing the man's ring when she & Barrow were ambushed & murdered in Louisiana. The inmate's last name was 'Thornton' (the Thornton sign was positioned in front of the Stemmons Freeway sign during the ambush of JFK. JFK would have noticed the Thornton sign first & then the Stemmons sign if he was looking in the direction the signs were placed when the ambush began).

Bill Decker participated in the 1st B&C ambush in Sowers, Texas in late 1933. B&C slipped into Sowers so that Clyde Barrow could visit his mother on her birthday. It's still being debated which B&C associate 'sold them out' & tipped off police that waited to ambush B&C. The Dallas county Sowers ambush failed, B&C escaped (although wounded) & Smoot Schmidt caught a lot of negative press because of it, making the posse Schmidt created personal retaliation. When Frank Hamer joined the posse, it became an execution squad. Although the newspapers reported the ambush differently, capturing, arresting & taking the crime duo of B&C to trial was never on the table.

Frank Hamer was given authorization to keep anything B&C had on them once the crime duo had been executed. Hamer kept most of their guns & would legally fight with B&C's family over those guns in the years to come. Ruth Warren had to fight in Federal court to get her stolen Ford back.

Documentation for property Clyde Barrow is said to have legally purchased in Louisiana plus the bank loot from B&C's most recent robberies disappeared after B&C were killed.

Clyde Barrow & gang obtained most of their arsenals from robbing National Guard armories in and near Texas. The National Guard armory in Terrell, Texas (located East of Dallas) was also robbed a short time before the JFK ambush & murder in late 1963.

There are many strikingly similar occurrences between Bonnie & Clyde (and lawmen hunting them down) & the JFK case. The B&C ambush was rumored to have been secretly filmed by a professional movie photographer hired by Frank Hamer. Fearing legal backlashes from B&C's relatives, Hamer is said to have suppressed his own film. (A secret 'other version' Zapruder film is said to exist, in comparison. A couple Ed Forum active members have stated they both have seen that film).

The Zapruder film has been accused of being the victim of tampering; Ted Hinton's home movie of the aftermath of B&C's ambush (posted on YouTube somewhere) has also been accused of being staged. Reportedly, once the gunfire stopped & the death car's doors were open, both bodies of B&C fell out each door. Bonnie is said to have fallen into the arms of Ted Hinton while Clyde was said to have fallen out his open door; half in the car, half out. Allegedly, B&C's bodies were put back in their stolen Ford before Ted Hinton shot his famous home movie at the B&C ambush site.

The search of LHO's possessions at the Pain residence is said to have been illegal (no search warrants), just as the ambush of B&C is also said to have been illegal (the Texas participants had not been deputized & the Louisiana participants had not served B&C with any LEO documentation that indicated Louisiana LEO could legally arrest the duo for law infractions (much less gun them down & murder B&C).

J. Edgar Hoover & the pre-FBI (Bureau Of Investigation) play into both stories, as does Bill Decker. Dallas Field Office File 26-4114 details much of Hoover's involvement in the B&C ambush (it used to be available at the FBI website). In both the JFK & B&C cases, Hoover has been suspected & accused of being an accessory to murder, if not a key orchestrator. BTW, Hoover was not after B&C for their many robberies & deaths of civilians or law enforcement officers: Hoover has after B&C for the stolen cars they routinely drove across state lines.

LHO & Clyde Barrow were very close in age. Both were interested in photography. Both are said to have been deadly accurate gunmen.

Both JFK's & B&C's autopsies were accused of being 'botched'. B&C's autopsy report did not indicate how many bullets, what caliber they were & from what direction struck the pair (the report did indicate that both victims suffered from venereal disease). The report led to much speculation & theories over the years as to how exactly the crime duo died & who gave who the VD? (Bonnie never left Clyde's side after she was severely burned in late 1933 because she was crippled & the few persons that interacted with B&C were either family members or B&C gang members). The coroner's report did state that Clyde died from a single gunshot to his head (similar to JFK) & Bonnie died from a gunshot that struck one of her cheeks & exited the top of her head, blowing a portion of her head open (very similar to the JFK 'throat wound entrance & top of head exit' theory of cause of death)

Several people associated or related to B&C were tried in Dallas at the 'Old Red Courthouse' for aiding, abetting or harboring B&C during their crime spree. Some were incarcerated in the Dallas County Jail awaiting their trials. Both buildings are visible to & from the TSBD's 'sniper's nest' window.

I recall an interview with the late Gray Mack that was posted on YouTube (don't ask me which one it was, please!) in which Gary was stating that Lyndon Johnson was involved in the creation of Dealey Plaza (with the two pergolas) as we see it today.

All of that was from memory, David. I believe it to be accurate. I find it interesting how Dealey Plaza plays a part of that history of the early 1930's & again in 1963. Ambushes & murder are a part of both years & stories. David's photos puts some shine on the times those events occurred.

Best,

Brad Milch

Edited August 25, 2016 by Brad Milch