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If you're a nonstop learner who wants to discover more about your neighborhood's history, arts, and culture, you don't have to look far. With a rich history, Dallas, Texas, is full of iconic buildings and areas that commemorate the many individuals, events, and communities that influenced our city. Planet Ford Dallas Love Field put together a list of five landmarks to visit in Dallas, Texas.
Band Shell by Gail Frederick is licensed with CC BY 2.0
If you're a fan of vintage architecture and enjoy flipping through photos of homes and buildings from yesteryear, you might enjoy taking a stroll through Dallas Heritage Village. The city moved about 30 historical buildings from around North Central Texas to create the 20-acre village, an homage to 19th-century Texans. The area includes historic schools, hotels, and homes built in pioneer and Victorian styles. The Dallas County Heritage Society maintains this slice of old-time Lone Star life.
The village also regularly hosts educational events, programs, and workshops for groups of all ages. For example, you could try your hand at blacksmithing, a vital trade from this era that's still relevant today. The workshop allows beginners to safely wield tools and take home their hand-made masterpieces.
For a view of the city that you can't get anywhere else in the city, book a trip to Reunion Tower. Built-in 1978, this 560-foot-tall larger-than-life piece of light art decorates the Dallas skyline. The inside features an observation deck 470 feet in the air, so if you're brave enough, hike upstairs to see what Dallas looks like from the sky. A visit to the Reunion Tower's deck comes with a free digital photo to commemorate your experience.
You might even get many landmarks in one with a visit to Reunion Tower. Interactive screens throughout the tower's interior offer a virtual tour of some of the most famous spots in Dallas. Aim to visit Reunion Tower in the early evening for a romantic date night so you can catch a sunset unlike any other. You could also make the most of your visit by planning it around one of the tower's many free, family-friendly summer events, a magic show, or a storytime. For more details, visit the Reunion Tower's website.
If you want to spend a day in the park while also honoring the area's cultural history, head to Pike Park in the neighborhood now called Uptown. Originally built in 1913 and called Summit Play Park, the park provided a gathering space and recreational area, mainly for those from the Eastern European Jewish immigrant community that called the area home. In its original state, the park featured a pool, playground, community center, and tennis courts.
Between 1910 and 1920, the neighborhood's demographics shifted as many Mexican families began establishing residence near Pike Park during the Mexican Revolution. Residents dubbed the area "Little Mexico," and the park became a focal point of public life for Dallas' Mexican-American community. In 2000, Pike Park became an official city landmark.
Today, local groups like the Dallas Mexican American Historical League, the Latino Cultural Center, and the Dallas Jewish Historical Society are organizing efforts to renovate and maintain the park. Pike Park represents some of the rich cultural heritage that's shaped Dallas. Spend an afternoon playing basketball, having a picnic in the gazebo, and getting comfortable in the grass, reading about the area's dynamic history. It's free to visit Pike Park, so if you're looking for a budget-friendly option for the whole family, this might be your next Saturday spot.
In 1970, famed architect Philip Johnson designed a cenotaph to memorialize the late former president John F. Kennedy in Dallas, where his assassination took place. White concrete columns comprise the 30-foot-by-50-foot-by-50-foot building, and thanks to a series of lights installed beneath the building, in the dark, the memorial nearly looks as if it's floating on a ray of light. The memorial is a popular landmark for locals and visitors, who come to reflect on the event and understand its significance in the history of the city, state, and country.
If you want to learn more about Kennedy, his legacy, and that historic day in Dallas in 1963, head one block west to the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. The center point of this small museum is "John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation," an exhibit studying Kennedy's assassination and the cultural moment that surrounded it, located in the very building where the assassination occurred.
The museum features evidence, videos, texts, and photographs detailing the political climate of the early 1960s in America and the events of November 22, 1963. Due to the nature of the content, it might be best for older children, teenagers, and adults. The Sixth Floor Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. The outdoor memorial, however, is open to visitors daily.
An architectural marvel, Bath House Cultural Center is one of the best spots in Dallas to appreciate the arts. The building is over 90 years old, and at the time of its construction in 1930, it was one of the Southwest's first installments of the modern and decadent art deco architecture style that became popular during the "Roaring Twenties" in America. Through the 1930s and 1940s, the building served Dallas locals and tourists who came to swim in White Rock Lake.
In 1978, after decades of dormancy, the city revitalized the building and transformed it into a cultural center. Today, it's home to a museum, a 116-seat theater, two art galleries, and plenty of gathering spaces and workspaces for community members. Visit the Bath House Cultural Center to explore an art exhibit or stop by in the evening to watch a play, dance recital, or concert. You can check the center's website to learn more about their calendar of events and find an exhibit or show that might entertain you and expand your mind.
That concludes Planet Ford Dallas Love Field's list of five Dallas landmarks to visit. There are so many culturally and historically significant spots to visit around town, and we couldn't cover them all. If you know a must-see spot, message us to tell us about it. In the meantime, if you need a reliable and stylish vehicle to explore the city in, visit us at our Dallas, Texas dealership today.
