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Attractions |
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| Attractions in
Dallas |
| Dallas offers visitors an interesting mix of attractions, both historic and new. Dallas is a sprawling metropolis with many smaller cities that almost seamlessly begin and end within the metropolitan area. Sites generally are spread out, but certain areas contain a number of attractions within a relatively compact space. Although Dallas has a number of popular attractions, visitors will be pleased to find very few of them overcrowded. |
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| Landmarks and Historic Sites |
Fair Park
1st Street and Grand Avenue, Dallas.
This 277-acre/112-hectare park southeast of downtown Dallas off I-30 has been the site of the annual State Fair of Texas since 1887. Attracting more than 3.5 million visitors annually, the State Fair is one of the largest in the U.S. Fair Park, a National Historic Landmark, has one of the nation's largest collections of art-deco buildings. Murals originally painted in 1932 by noted portrait artist and sculptor Carlo Ciampaglia have recently been restored. The
park houses nine museums as well as the Dallas Horticultural Center, the Texas Hall of State, Fair Park Music Hall, Dallas Aquarium and the Cotton Bowl.
Old City Park (Historical Village of Dallas)
1717 Gano Ave., Dallas.
The 13-acre/5-hectare park where 35 restored historic homes and businesses have been gathered is a bit shabby, but it does serve to remind you of the humble origins from which this megacity sprang. Buildings reflect life from the 1840s to about 1910. Living-history demonstrations are held in the old printery, blacksmith shop and pottery-maker's shop. Dance troupes perform during the summer, the park hosts a special 4th of July celebration, and candlelight tours and caroling take place during the Christmas season.
The Sixth Floor Museum
411 Elm St., Dallas.
This is a poignant exhibit dedicated to President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in Dallas on 22 November 1963. The sixth floor of the former Texas School Book Depository is the location from which Lee Harvey Oswald is thought to have fired the fatal shots. The museum recently underwent a US$1.8 million expansion to the seventh floor, which houses temporary exhibits such as a collection of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs. |
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| Museums |
Dallas Museum of Art
1717
N. Harwood, Dallas.
This museum houses a permanent collection spanning several periods from pre-Columbian to modern and also hosts major touring exhibitions. Works by Church, Oldenburg, Monet, Van Gogh, Matisse, Rodin, Henry Moore and others are on display. An impressive modernist structure, the museum building is itself a work of art.
Meadows Museum of Art
5900 N. Bishop Blvd., Dallas.
Located on the campus of Southern Methodist University, this museum provides a handsome setting for a permanent collection of paintings, drawings and prints representing five centuries of Spanish art. Works by El Greco, Goya and Picasso are included.
The Science Place
1620 1st Ave., Dallas.
This hands-on science museum has exhibits about subjects ranging from dinosaurs to robotics, and it also has a planetarium. Its IMAX Theater features "you are there" films that completely surround viewers with a huge domed screen for a larger-than-life experience in, say, a space ship, a volcano or on a roller coaster. |
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| Zoos and Wildlife |
Dallas World Aquarium
1801 N. Griffin St., Dallas.
In a converted warehouse in the West End Historic District, this aquarium dramatically incorporates the wonders of a rain forest. Inside its walls, two young jaguars prowl in a tropical environment replicating the Orinoco River region of the Amazon. Toucans fly free, monkeys swing through the trees. Safely behind glass are crocodiles, spiders, a huge boa constrictor and vampire bats. Elsewhere in the aquarium, painstaking efforts have duplicated exact environments of sharks, stingrays, leafy sea dragons, jellyfish, giant groupers and a giant octopus. Black-footed penguins swim in their own outdoor river.
Dallas Zoo
650 S.R.L. Thornton Freeway, Oak Cliff, Dallas.
Many of the 1,400 animals are viewed from a monorail train. The Wilds of Africa exhibit is always a favorite, and one of the newer exhibits is the Lemur Lookout. A gigantic giraffe statue marks the entrance to the zoo. |
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| Parks and Gardens |
Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden
8525 Garland Rd., Dallas
The lawns of this 66-acre/27-hectare arboretum and botanical garden roll right down to the shore of White Rock Lake. Native, drought-resistant plants are represented in its gardens. The DeGolyer Estate, the former home of arboretum founder Everette DeGolyer, is part of the grounds and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Pioneer Plaza
Young and Griffin Streets, Dallas.
The city's newest park commemorates Old West cattle drives with 40 large bronze longhorn steers and cowboys on horseback. Ten to 20 more steers will eventually be added. |
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