1026 North Beckley

[Dan Rice]

I seem to remember reading that there was speculation that Cuban exiles either lived or met upstairs over the garage behind Oswald's rooming house.  Does anyone have any insight or information regard that?  This past week, I fulfilled the last item on my bucket list (visiting Dallas and all of the JFK related sites there) and that garage/structure is still standing. 

[Matt Allison]

Good question. I did the same last year, drove around the neighborhood and alleys for a while. The sign in the front yard says "Tours Available" but I didn't take them up that offer.

[Dan Rice]

15 minutes ago, Matt Allison said:

Good question. I did the same last year, drove around the neighborhood and alleys for a while. The sign in the front yard says "Tours Available" but I didn't take them up that offer.

I didn't tour the house, either.  A very small room, a bed, maybe a dresser and a nightstand.  Not much to see there.  I did tour the 6th Floor Museum.  I took a few pics of the Tippit site.  The homes that were there in '63 are long gone.  I also took pics of the Texas Theater.  It would have been nice to go inside but it was closed at the time.  I think it has been remodeled and may not be configured as it was in '63.  It was quite a weird feeling driving through Dealey Plaza for the first time.

[Dan Rice]

After a little more investigation (Google), I found the following interview with Tosh Plumlee from April 1992 at the Spartacus site.

quote:  Q: Did you ever see him again after that?

A: Yes, in '62 when I came back into Dallas area, that, through the Dallas Cubans over on, not Harlendale Street, but there was a "safe" house here in Dallas, Oak Cliff, two of them. There was a small two bedroom frame type house that was located in Oak Cliff not far from the zoo where the old inner urban track used to go through, I mean there's a highline down through there now, at that place and then I think it was Zang's Blvd. there used to be "safe" house there that was run by Hernandez out of Miami that had connections with Alpha 66 at one point that se up a "safe" house for Dallas Cubans that were filtrating out of the Miami area. Oswald, from those two "safe" houses, I went to another "safe" house and that "safe" house was directly behind where Oswald had rented a room, in the alley, and I carved my initials on the draining board up there at that time and that was a gun running operation and Oswald was renting the front house. I saw him there briefly but did not talk to him.

Q: Is that the house he lived in when the assassination occurred?

A: I'm not sure of the dates. Researchers would have to get the dates but this was just prior.. I had just came in from flying Roselli and John Martino from Houston to Galvezton and my next trip was from Houston back to Dallas so that would have been around June of '63, or no... before June... it would have been around April or May of '63.  :quote off

This might have been what I was thinking of.  Plumlee is talking about a time period before Oswald rented the room on North Beckley unless his dates are confused.  He doesn't seem 100% sure of the dates.  Apparently there were a number of 'safe houses' in the area.