Early in the spring of 1993, the new two-story addition was completed on the North-side of the Hotel Texas which had been built in 1921 as one of Downtown Forth Worth's landmarks. The hotel located in an area adjacent to what would become the Convention Center would serve as a landmark for Fort Worth, but for entirely different reasons. Early in November of '93, 'oil and gas wealthy' friends of Lady Bird Johnson, Vice President Lyndon Johnson's wife, began donating artwork and furnishings from their lavish Ft. Worth Mansions to decorate a special group of rooms on the 8th floor of Hotel Texas. You see, President John F. Kennedy and his wife would stay in that suite of rooms the night of November 21, 1963, after arriving from Houston.
The next morning, President Kennedy would address a group of Ft. Worth business leaders and Texas millionaires in the new Crystal Ballroom of the two-story addition. As it turned out, it would be the last public address President Kennedy would ever make. Shortly after his breakfast speech, Kennedy and his delegation were whisked to Carswell Air Force Base, flown to Dallas Love Field, and he was assassinated while riding in an open limousine in Downtown Dallas on his way to the Trade Mart, at 12:30 pm central time on November 22nd.
Today, the Hotel Texas of 1963 fame is the 'Hilton Fort Worth' which is still one of the hotels supporting the Fort Worth Convention Center. Located near the hotel is a monument to President Kennedy that captures some of the events from his Presidency and his brief time in Forth Worth. In addition, the hotel has established a 'History in Pictures' on the 2nd floor at each end of the Promenade that allows visitors to revisit the historical events of that 1963 visit by the President and First Lady.
While the actual 8th Floor suite of rooms has long been remodeled along with the hotel over the nearly 60 years since those events, the Hilton does offer a 2,200 Presidential Suite on its 15th floor today if you are willing to shell out the cash for a night's stay. It's been decorated lavishly in a style befitting 'a President' but it is certainly not as ornate as the original rooms the Kennedys occupied. For example, you won't find the original van Gough, 'Path on the outskirts of Paris, with a peasant carrying a spade' which had been donated by a local Texan millionaire solely for the President's stay (Today the painting is reportedly held in a private collection in Japan).
If you are old enough to remember the tragic events of November 22, 1963, then this will be a trip down memory lane... if you are too young to remember those events other than from the history books, then this will be an opportunity to visit a 'place in history' before history became a nightmare. You should consider making this a stop on your Fort Worth visit while spending time in the Convention Center/Downtown area.