On November 22, 1963, when I was in first grade, President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas. Two weeks ago, nearly 56 years after JFK was assassinated, I finally traveled there to see the city, and the place called Dealey Plaza, where it happened. It was an eye-opening exploit that provided a measure of closure. Below are specially curated photos that document my experience. As I learned, residents long ago recovered from the catastrophe that struck their city. Dallas now appears to be a thriving, cosmopolitan city.

East Grade School, where I was a first-grader, emptied upon news President Kennedy had been shot. (Photo credit Plainfield Public Library)

The glamorous First Couple arriving at Dallas Love Field on November 22, 1963. (Photo credit Life Magazine).

Dealey Plaza looks much the same today as it did in 1963. Clockwise from top left: the orange bricked Texas School Book Depository Building; the grassy knoll; the triple underpass; the spot where Abraham Zapruder filmed the assassination. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

The presidential motorcade began at Love Field. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Like San Francisco’s Haight and Ashbury, the corner of Houston and Elm streets in Dallas is famous, or in this case, infamous. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Lee Harvey Oswald’s sniper’s nest on the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Oswald’s view from the sniper’s nest. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

The X on the street near the center of the photo is where the fatal shot hit Kennedy. Evidence points to accidental friendly fire from a Secret Service rifle. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Notable ballistics and forensics experts believe Secret Service Special Agent George Hickey, shown here brandishing his AR-15 behind JFK’s limo, inadvertently fired the shot that killed Kennedy. Their fact-based theory is intriguingly plausible. (Photo credit Unnamed Motorist)

Barely one-hour after it began, JFK’s motorcade ended here at Parkland Hospital. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

The news around the globe was the same. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Ruth Paine’s boarding house, where Lee Harvey Oswald slept the night before he shot the president. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Oswald was captured at the Texas Theater, which still operates in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Oswald was held in cell #2 at the Dallas Municipal Building. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Oswald (and later Jack Ruby) stood in front of this wall to have his mugshot taken. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Oswald was paraded up and down this hallway in front of media scrums. Note the silver-ish colored line on the floor (toward the right) that runs from the bottom of the photo to the top of the photo. That’s where the wall was in 1963, creating a packed, tension-filled space. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Oswald, escorted by Detective Jim Leavelle, took this elevator to the municipal building basement to be transferred to the county jail. Moments later, Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

The ambulance that carried Oswald from the municipal building basement used this ramp. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Dallas is now a gleaming, cosmopolitan city with proud citizens. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)