The area behind the picket fence (and a bit about Lee Bowers)

[Royell Storing]

Sometimes I like to try to solve some questions regarding some of the photos. I believe that I have resolved some items in the photo that Lance posted in, I believe, the first post of this thread.



1.  First I believe that Royell is correct about the small tree (blue arrow). It appears to have been transplanted from north of the pergola shelter to south of the pergola shelter. The image that James Hackerott posted shows what seems to me to probably be the same tree but apparently north of the pergola shelter. I have viewed the possibilities in a good 3D computer model from various angles, and it appears to me that Royell is correct and I stand corrected for my assumptions in my earlier post. Thanks Royell.

2.  However, as I believe Lance already pointed out, there is clearly visible the distinct rear end of a 1965 Chevrolet (yellow arrow). The 1965 models would not have even shown up in the showrooms before the fall of 1964. So that would be the earliest this photo could have been taken, but probably a bit later than that. Therefore I believe that transplanting a small tree like that to a different location (at least about a year after the assassination) should be considered a normal and typical maintenance revision and irrelevant to the assassination. Since it is irrelevant, we have no reason to need to know why someone decided that the small tree should be relocated.

3.  The upper part of the post office building can be seen upper left of the image (red arrow).

4.  This photo does appear to me to have been taken from the vicinity of the tower. However, it does also appear to have been taken from standing on the ground level versus from the 14’ level of the tower. This was determined by viewing various angles with a good 3D computer model.

  Thanks Charles. If anyone has ever previously seen an image of this sprig tree being in this area of the Knoll, (blue arrow), please let this forum know. Another issue with this image is the missing section of the N-S picket fence. To the (R) of that Blue Arrow, we clearly see a tree trunk from the ground up. The N-S section of the picket fence extended (N) beyond the pergola shelter. That (N) section of the N-S picket fence should be blocking our view of the bottom portion of that tree trunk. That same tree stood within mere feet of the N-S picket fence.   

[Dan O'meara]

This is not an LN or CT post, merely informational.

When I visited Dealey Plaza in 1987, I was struck (like everyone else) by how compact it is. Our visit was brief, and I paid no attention to anything behind the picket fence or TSBD.

The six-minute YouTube video below, from a couple of years ago, is quite interesting. Beginning at about the 3-minute mark, the photographer (obviously an LN proponent) spends considerable time panning the entire area behind the picket fence and TSBD. It’s fascinating (to me) how utterly wide open it is.

I was also struck by Lee Bowers’ tower, which is both lower and farther back than most written materials tend to suggest. It is Interlocking Tower 106 of the railroad and was put into service in 1916. It is now owned by the Sixth Floor Museum and was renovated in the 2000s. It is 14 feet high, and the Warren Commission said it sits “approximately 50 yards from the back of the TSBD.”

This short TikTok video pans forward to the picket fence and says “150 yards” to it: https://www.tiktok.com/@solvingjfk/video/7203459605299547435. Anyway, it’s quite a distance. Below the YouTube video is a photograph with red lines purporting to show Bowers’ line of sight to the motorcade. If nothing else, it helps orient us to where everything is located.

There seem to be virtually no contemporaneous photos of Bowers’ view. The black and white image below is the only one I could find, and it’s not clear that it’s actually from Tower 106.

If there’s any LN-orientation to this post, I guess I might question Bowers’ ability to observe the level of detail he purported to have observed as stated in his affidavit the day of the assassination, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth337486/m1/1/. After that, of course, his story got even "better." (Too bad he "had to be silenced" by "them." Why did he have to be silenced three years after the JFKA, enquiring minds wonder?)

Well, that's all from me for now. Say hi to Mom.

"If there’s any LN-orientation to this post, I guess I might question Bowers’ ability to observe the level of detail he purported to have observed as stated in his affidavit the day of the assassination,"

What "level of detail" are you referring to?

[Charles Collins]

  Thanks Charles. If anyone has ever previously seen an image of this sprig tree being in this area of the Knoll, (blue arrow), please let this forum know. Another issue with this image is the missing section of the N-S picket fence. To the (R) of that Blue Arrow, we clearly see a tree trunk from the ground up. The N-S section of the picket fence extended (N) beyond the pergola shelter. That (N) section of the N-S picket fence should be blocking our view of the bottom portion of that tree trunk. That same tree stood within mere feet of the N-S picket fence.

The camera angles can sometimes play tricks on us. I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but here is a crop from an aerial photo made in April, 1967. I'm guessing that this date might be reasonably close to the date that the image posted by Lance was made. Again this was years after the assassination. So routine maintenance might have included shortening the picket fence. It seems to show the north/south section of the picket fence ending near the south edge of the pergola shelter.




https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1030229/

[Royell Storing]

The camera angles can sometimes play tricks on us. I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but here is a crop from an aerial photo made in April, 1967. I'm guessing that this date might be reasonably close to the date that the image posted by Lance was made. Again this was years after the assassination. So routine maintenance might have included shortening the picket fence. It seems to show the north/south section of the picket fence ending near the south edge of the pergola shelter.




https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1030229/

   You must be looking at a better quality photo than I am looking at above. I do Not see any of the N-S picket fence and only about 3/4 of the Pergola Shelter.
   I have viewed a short snippet of film on You Tube that showed the area behind the Black Dog Man area. This snippet included a good view of the (N) section of the N-S picket fence. I believe this footage was shot the day of the assassination, but I do Not know that for a fact or even who filmed it. That said, if this footage was shot on 11/22/63, that (N) section of the N-S picket fence looked extremely good. It "glistened" like it had just been shellacked or had some kind of weather proofing applied. This "glistening" in my opinion accounted for the "glare" we see from the picket fence in the background of "Willis 5"/The Black Dog Man photo. Based on the section of picket fence I viewed on this You Tube snippet, I seriously doubt that that section of picket fencing would have deteriorated due to weather by 1967. If you want to view this film snippet, let me know and I will tell you exactly where it is located on You Tube.

[Charles Collins]

   You must be looking at a better quality photo than I am looking at above. I do Not see any of the N-S picket fence and only about 3/4 of the Pergola Shelter.

The first few feet of the N-S section of the picket fence are visible. Further north it is in the shadows of the large tree so we do not actually see it. The reason I posted this is because you stated the N-S section of the picket fence extended north PAST the pergola shelter. In this photo we can see that it appears that the fence ends before it gets past the north side of the shelter. So if the fence did indeed extend past the north side of the shelter on 11/22/63, then it has apparently been shortened. However, this photo was taken years after the assassination so I don’t see any relevance to the assassination.

[Royell Storing]

The first few feet of the N-S section of the picket fence are visible. Further north it is in the shadows of the large tree so we do not actually see it. The reason I posted this is because you stated the N-S section of the picket fence extended north PAST the pergola shelter. In this photo we can see that it appears that the fence ends before it gets past the north side of the shelter. So if the fence did indeed extend past the north side of the shelter on 11/22/63, then it has apparently been shortened. However, this photo was taken years after the assassination so I don’t see any relevance to the assassination.

   Just my opinion, but the missing section of picket fencing we are discussing is in the same general area as Black Dog Man, Gordon Arnold, and Badge Man. If it was just arbitrarily decided to replace this section of picket fencing when it did Not require such, that's an issue. And that same section of picket fencing looks close to brand new on the You Tube film snippet I previously referenced.  Personally, I still regard Dealey Plaza as a Murder Scene. 

[James Hackerott]

Regarding the pergola on the opposite side of the street, what's the building indicated by the red arrow? It's not the Post Office building.

Sean, Charles Collins has already in this thread identified the building you are asking about as part of the loading infrastructure at the Union Station. I’m belatedly adding some info related to the photo you posted.

I had a chance to visit Dealey Plaza recently. Although the Bowers Tower was not on my agenda I did make video of the Fence-Shelter gap from ground level. I slowly side-walked from the west corner to the east corner. Attached is a frame taken at approximately half the width of the tower that would be under the center window facing south.

I learned from this experiment that the south pergola’s shelter is not responsible for the smallish structure to the right of center in your posted photo. I made the mistake of using that structure as the west pergola shelter, which put my estimation of the photographer's location too far east. I recently found an aerial labeled as from 1968 that shows some structure about 14x14’ and about 50’ SW of the pergola’s west shelter.
https://www.historicaerials.com/location/32.74639398582965/-97.31540992856026/1963/20#

I believe this structure is a shed. It does not show in 1972 or 1958 aerials. I also found2 an on-line (full?) frame version that was possibly the original. Your posted image from which we’ve been studying is cropped. The fuller frame version shows the camera at elevation. I believe that the photo fairly represents a view from Bowers’ tower.

I have only found one contemporaneous photo that shows the Union Station freight handling bridge. It is at upper-right frame as the last building to the west in the Volkland photo. This structure is gone in a 1979 aerial.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EYOQJcqOn5nymrOqkas6mugzDJCu0Ws_/view?usp=drive_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xZeS_7URmL8Z3S25woO5nyobTUDTumt7/view?usp=drive_link