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Are there contemporary maps or measurements that show exact distances between JFK assassination sites and the Texas Theatre?
Executive summary
Contemporary public materials and local histories identify the Texas Theatre as the site where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested after the November 22, 1963 events, and they place that theatre in Oak Cliff at 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. [1] [2]. Available sources in this set describe visits, plaques, museum materials and local reporting about the theatre and Dealey Plaza, but none of the provided items publish an authoritative modern map or a precise, measured distance table between each JFK-related site (for example, Dealey Plaza, the Tippit shooting location, Hardy Shoe/Jefferson Blvd. references) and the Texas Theatre; those data are not found in current reporting here (not found in current reporting).
1. The Texas Theatre’s place in the JFK story — local history and commemoration
The Texas Theatre is repeatedly presented in local reportage and museum-related material as the place where Oswald was apprehended on Nov. 22, 1963; Dallas landmarks coverage, anniversary programming, and the theatre’s own publicity all emphasize that link and the theatre’s address in Oak Cliff [1] [3] [4]. D Magazine notes a revised state plaque intended to correct earlier wording and to avoid implying the theatre was the place of the assassination itself, while local outlets run annual “JFK Day” events there [1] [5].
2. What the local museum and guides document — site visits, photos and maps
The Sixth Floor Museum and affiliated projects document many photographs and site descriptions related to Dealey Plaza and other locations; student projects and museum collections preserve police photos of the Texas Theatre interior and discuss visitor tours to Tippit and theatre sites [6] [7]. TheActiveHistorian and museum-related pages include parade-route maps and visitor commentary for Dealey Plaza, but these sources focus on narrative and interpretive material rather than publishing tabulated, surveyed distances to off-site locations like the Texas Theatre [8] [7].
3. Contemporary maps and distance data — what's missing from this file
Among the local news, museum, tourism, and feature items provided, none publishes a contemporary, precise measurement between Dealey Plaza (or other assassination locations) and the Texas Theatre — no authoritative distance chart, surveyor map, or GIS-based measurement is present in the supplied reporting (not found in current reporting). Tourism pages, Atlas Obscura and TripAdvisor describe locations and offer addresses, but they do not supply exact mileage or metric measurements between the key sites [9] [5].
4. Practical ways researchers have commonly measured distances (context only)
Although the current sources here do not show explicit measured distances, journalistic and historical practice for establishing such distances typically uses map tools, museum GIS work, or official address coordinates and driving/walking calculations; local reporters and historians sometimes pair maps of the presidential motorcade route with site photos [8] [6]. The provided items show that practitioners do compile route maps and photographic documentation even if they do not publish a consolidated distance table [8] [6].
5. Conflicting emphases and implicit agendas to note
Some local commemorations and plaques aim to balance accuracy with public memory; D Magazine reports the theatre’s new plaque wording was chosen to reduce misimpression that the theatre was the assassination site itself and to placate both accuracy-minded historians and conspiracy-minded readers [1]. This reveals a local agenda to both preserve tourism interest and to manage historical interpretation — a reason why some public materials stress narrative and iconography over technical measurements [1].
6. If you need exact distances — recommended next steps
The sources here do provide stable anchors you can use to compute distances: the Texas Theatre’s street address and Dealey Plaza’s well-documented location and parade route [2] [8]. To get the precise, contemporary distances not present in these documents, use a GIS tool, Google Maps or official city parcel/GIS data to compute street distances and straight‑line bearings from known coordinates (available sources do not mention a published measurement here). Museum archives like the Sixth Floor Museum may also supply geocoordinates or research assistance on request [6].
Limitations: this analysis is limited to the documents in your search results; none of those items contain a formal, published table or map giving exact measured distances between multiple JFK-related sites and the Texas Theatre, so definitive numeric distances cannot be cited from these sources (not found in current reporting).