Formerly the Texas School Book Depository Building
This site was originally owned by John Neely Bryan,
the founder of Dallas. During the 1880s French native
Maxime Guillot operated a wagon shop here. In 1894
the land was purchased by Phil L. Mitchell, President
and Director of the Rock Island Plow Company of
Illinois. An office building for the firm's Texas division,
known as the Southern Rock Island Plow Company,
was completed here four years later. In 1901 the
five-story structure was destroyed by fire. That
same year, under supervision of the company's Vice
President and General Manager F. B. Jones, work was
completed on this structure. Built to resemble the
earlier edifice, it features characteristics of the
Commercial Romanesque Revival style.
In 1937 the Carraway Byrd Corporation purchased the
property. Later under the direction of D.H. Byrd, the
building was leased to a variety of businesses,
including the Texas School Book Depository.
On November 22, 1963, the building gained national
notoriety when Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot
and killed President John F. Kennedy from a sixth
floor window as the Presidential motorcade passed
the site.
Submitted by Gilda Spitz.