Dallas County Criminal Courts Building
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Dallas County Criminal Courts Building This site was purchased by Dallas County in 1913 for a new jail and courts building, designed by local architect H. A. Overbeck (1861 - 1942). The steel-framed building, finished in 1915 at a cost of $585,982, is clad with granite, terra cotta, and brick, exhibiting Renaissance Revival styling. The upper six floors housed the jail, designed for 200 prisoners. Two large district courtrooms on the second floor suspended jury trials during summer months until air conditioning was installed in 1951. In 1964 Jack Ruby (1911 - 1967) was tried in the east courtroom for killing assassination suspect Lee Harvey Oswald (1939 - 1963). Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Completed in 1915 to the Renaissance Revival design of local architect H. A. Overbeck, this steel-framed Dallas building combined a courthouse with a jail for 200 prisoners in its upper floors. Its second-floor courtrooms once suspended summer trials until air conditioning arrived in 1951. In 1964 the east courtroom became the stage for the trial of Jack Ruby, convicted of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of assassinating President Kennedy.
Why it matters
The building is a physical link to the chaotic aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, one of the defining traumas of modern American life, played out in a Dallas courtroom.
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Related people
- · H. A. Overbeck
- · Jack Ruby
- · Lee Harvey Oswald
Related events
- · Trial of Jack Ruby
Themes & tags
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