Downtown Dallas is filled with historical sites, most notably Dealey Plaza, where President John. F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Across from Dealey Plaza, in between Elm Street and Main Street, sits the Dallas County Records Building, which has a rich history. From the outside, it resembles its original form, but inside, it’s modernized with hints of what it looked like in the past.
“This building is really three buildings,” said District 3 Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price.
After nearly five years of renovations and $200 million later, the Dallas County Records Building reopened in 2022.
Built in 1913 and 1955, the original complex served as a county jail, criminal courthouse, commissioner’s court and records building.
The historical preservation committee required the designers to keep the outside the same. Inside, it is completely different, but there are hints of the past and relics to preserve history.
“There’s no need to destroy history. The history is what the history is,” said Price regarding a water fountain on the first floor from the Jim Crow area that shows ‘white only’ and ‘colored.’ Initially, there was controversy around keeping the fountain.
Upstairs on the 7th floor, where Price’s office and conference room are located, is where the old jail used to be.
“I’m the only one, I guess been around here long enough to remember where the old jail was, and it was several floors,” said Price, who has been a commissioner for 40 years.
He said prior to 1924, the county handled its own executions before the state took it over in Huntsville.
“You’re standing in the capital murder room,” said Price. “This one here is the old execution room for the old jail.”
The space holds a significant meaning to him, especially since he’s the chairman of a couple of county jail committees.
“I know that history. This room provides this history and I think that’s a greater challenge for me every day, being the benefactor for whatever went on in this county,” said Price.
The building housed Clyde Barrow, the infamous outlaw who committed crimes with Bonnie Parker.
A marker, in what’s now the county nursing area, marks where his cell used to be.
Jack Ruby also stayed in a cell at the old jail. Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald after Oswald assassinated President Kennedy.
“This is where the Jack Ruby trial happened,” explained Price in the area that now serves as the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court.
Judge Sarah Hughes also served in the courthouse. She was a three-term Texas House representative, who became a state judge and later was appointed as a federal district judge by President Kennedy.
She welcomed Kennedy to town on Nov. 22, 1963, and according to an article from the University of North Texas College of Liberal Arts & Social Services Oral History, ‘was as shocked as anyone else by his assassination.’
Most notably, she swore in Lyndon B. Johnson at Love Field aboard Air Force One.
The building on 500 Elm St. holds many other historically significant stories, a structure wrapped in rich history, Price said, is important to preserve.