Even if you’ve never been to Dallas, you’ll recognize Dealey Plaza. It’s part of our national DNA. In front of you is the Texas School Book Depository building. Instinctively, you look up to the sixth floor, where shots once rang out. To the left is the Grassy Knoll, where coconspirators may or may not have lingered.

For years, Dallas played down the Kennedy assassination site. The city marked the crime with a restrained memorial a few blocks away. But in 1989, Dallas County opened the Sixth Floor museum (411 Elm St., 214-747-6660), preserving the sniper’s perch where Lee Harvey Oswald tracked the president. The world hooted at the project and the tactless Texans. Then they started visiting--and leaving in tears. Rent the audio tour, narrated by a newsman who was there. The museum presents a straightforward chronicle of Kennedy’s era. We’re immersed in the optimism and social upheaval of the early ’60s. But you already know the ending. And as much as you’d like to change history, every step you take toward the southeast corner brings you closer to the finale. When Walter Cronkite announces the President’s death on a vintage telecast, and wipes a tear from behind his dark-framed glasses, you will also.

What really happened that day? The museum lays the conspiracy theories out for review: The CIA? The Russians? The Mafia? Who’s to say? Outside the museum, hawkers offer the latest conspiracy tracts, muddling the mystery even more. But inside, it’s not very complicated. Just read the visitor comments. What happened that afternoon in Dallas tore hearts around the world.

About a mile east is the Arts District. Along with the Nasher Sculpture Garden (214-242-5100), there’s the Dallas Museum of Art (214-922-1200), which concentrates on Western Hemisphere works, including a notable pre-Columbian collection. Across the street, find the Crow Collection of Asian Art (214-979-6430), housed in the Trammell Crow Center.

But what about Texas’ Wild West lore? Stop by Pioneer Plaza, a 43-piece bronze collection of sculptures covering four acres in front of the Convention Center. The outdoor scene depicts a cattle round-up, complete with cowboys. Some have noted that a more historically accurate depiction would show galloping bankers and insurance executives. But occasional cattle drives did pass through the area.

For more Texana, visit the Hall of State in Fair Park (3939 Grand Ave., 214-421-4500). Built for the Texas Centennial in 1936, the building glories in Lone Star history. Names of Alamo heroes are chiseled in its frieze. Bronze doors feature oil wells, lariats and cotton bolls. Inside, murals depict the battle for Texas independence. But the delight is in the details. Tile-inlayed floors gleam with images of rattlesnakes, jackrabbits and armadillos. A wing dedicated to the future glows with lights shaped like flying saucers.

Nearby Deep Ellum can feel like a visit to another planet, too. The motley collection of nightclubs, restaurants, shops and tattoo parlors bustles during the evening. But it also attracts office workers at lunch.