Looking for Ghosts and the Truth of the Kennedy Assassination

I know this post is a little different from the content I usually post, but buckle in because this was a fascinating tour in Dallas that I absolutely want to deep dive with you about!

But first of all – This post/page contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Every city has its ghosts. Whether those ghosts are how its treated its people in the past or literal ghosts, you can always find a story. Not many come as close to infamy as does Dallas with the John F. Kennedy assassination.

Now, when I booked this ghost tour, I didn’t intend to focus on this particular event. However, I’m so glad it was. It was fascinating to be on site and see for yourself what is so controversial and prone to conspiracy theories. The number of times I’ve seen the footage is outweighed by the impact of seeing JFK’s autopsy photos at the Museum of Death in New Orleans. To put them together by seeing the position of all the important players – Oswald’s shooter nest, the location of the first and second shot, the grassy knoll – was eye opening.

A Lynching

First, I want to bring attention to something I consider even more uncomfortable. A mere block away from the site of the Kennedy assassination stands what was originally the Dallas courthouse. At this courthouse, there was of course the court room and the jail. It was here that our US Ghost Adventures tour guide told us about a lynching that happened on that site in 1910:

A man named Allen Brooks became a stark example of how Jim Crow laws didn’t work and how racism was alive and well. Mr. Brooks, a black man, was accused of assaulting the 3 year old daughter of his white employer after taking her home after she went missing. The truth of what occurred between them has been seemingly lost to time, but in the era of Jim Crow, the truth didn’t matter. A mob broke into the court house, tied a rope around Allen Brooks neck, and threw him out of a second story window. As if that wasn’t enough, they then dragged him half a mile down main street and hung him from an archway over the street. There are postcards featuring thousands of gleeful people in front of his hanging, lifeless body. No one has ever been held accountable to this day.

To call particular attention to the final line of the memorial sign at the site of his lynching:

“Although no other lynching were documented in the city of Dallas after 1910, other forms of racial discrimination and oppression persisted.”

The site of the Allen Brooks lynching; Dallas County Courthouse

An Assassination

On November 22, 1963 the presidential motorcade made its way down South Houston St past the Dallas County Courthouse. Originally, the motorcade was supposed to turn left onto Main St. In a last minute change, the course was rerouted to the next turn half a city block further to Elm St. According to reports, Lee Harvey Oswald was waiting on the 6th floor of the building on South Houston and Elm to assassinate President John F Kennedy.

Less than a half a block later, the first shot was fired. A few moments later, the second shot. The President was dead.

Mere minutes later, the superintendent of the building and an officer stopped and spoke with Lee Harvey Oswald on the second floor of the building the shots were believed to have been fired from – The Texas School Book Depository. He had just purchased a Coke from the cafeteria vending machine. The superintendent and officer proceeded up to the 6th floor and Oswald made his way downstairs and hopped on a bus.

A riveting tour offered by US Ghost Adventures took us to the site in question. I, personally, stood at both places in the road where shots occurred (you can see those photos below). We went to the grassy knoll where the famous footage was filmed. I stood at the site of the fence where a “conspiracy theory” suspects a second shooter may have been located. Here are the pictures I took from each:

The Texas School Book Depository building, modern day 2026 — The view of the location where Oswald was stationed – far right window second from the top as viewed from across the street

Intersection in which John F Kennedy motorcade turned — The view of South Houston St at the corner of Elm, where the motorcade turned; same side of the street as the shooter

View from the X on the first shot of the Kennedy assassination — The location of the first shooting; the window in which Oswald was stationed is currently obscured by the tree (see below). These trees were present at the time of the assassination, but to some amount smaller.

X, the stie of the second shot of the Kennedy assassination — The location of the second shot, the greenish square window is where the shot was fired from (second floor from the top, far right window)

View from the fence, possible location in the second shooter theory of the Kennedy assassination — Standing at the fence, you can see the X in the street marking the second shot – a clear view of the motorcade

As we know, Oswald was murdered before standing trial so we’ll never know his side of the story. He claimed to be a patsy for the crime. While the official story is that he was the sole shooter responsible for the death of John F. Kennedy, he was never tried and thus is simply his alleged killer. So says the sign on the wall of the Texas School Depository building.

If you are ever in Dallas or the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I wholeheartedly recommend taking a tour with Dallas Terrors. Use code LULU10 for 10% off at checkout! The base tour is absolutely worth it if you like history, ghosts, or both. Kristen and I also went on the extended tour which had my favorite ghost story of the night. If you’re into gadgets, they also have EMF meters you can rent for the tour. Make sure to use this special link and code LULU10 for a discount on your Dallas tour! If you’re not in Dallas, you can check out all of there other cities HERE. If you want to conduct your own ghost hunts (or be super well prepared for theirs) you can also find some equipment HERE.

Stay spooky, friends, and tell me what you think – was Allen Brooks an innocent victim of Jim Crow racism? Was Lee Harvey Oswald the sole shooter in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy?