ARLINGTON, TEXAS

Tarrant County, Central Texas North

32°42'18"N 97°07'22"W (W 32.705, -97.122778)

Between I-30 to the North and I-20 to the South
Part of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area
20 miles W of downtown Dallas
12 miles E of downtown Fort Worth
Population: 398,112 Est. (2018)
365,438 (2010) 332,969 (2000) 261,721 (1990)

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River Legacy Parks in Arlington
Photo courtesy River Legacy Foundation, 2006

History in a Pecan Shell

Named after Robert E. Lee's hometown in Virginia, the town was originally settled in the 1840s. Gen. Edward H. Tarrant, (the county's namesake) attacked and defeated local Indians here in 1841. A trading post was set up two years later at a place called Marrow Bone Spring. A small community nearby called Johnson Station had a post office granted in 1851, but when the Texas and Pacific Railroad arrived in 1876, the tracks were laid just north of the settlement.

The Reverend Andrew S. Hayter, a Presbyterian minister is credited with platting the new community and the town was first named Hayter, Texas in 1875. It was renamed Arlington in 1877.

One of Arlington's first enterprises was the selling of mineral water and crystals from the town's public well. A sanitarium was soon built and by 1884 there was a respectable population of 800. Utilities appeared and telephone service was in operation by 1910. The population grew to over 3,000 by the mid-1920s. From 1933 through 1937, Arlington Downs was the city's biggest draw.

The city has somehow managed to maintain its separate identity, even while being sandwiched between rivals Dallas and Fort Worth.

Photo courtesy Michael Hicks

ARLINGTON
The Story of Arlington &Tom Vandergriff

by Clint Skinner

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, June 2010

"Gathering Pecans" 1941 by Otis Dozier

Mosier Valley Garden of Angels Cross memorials, Arlington Texas

Photo courtesy William Holmes, June 2005

The Garden of Angels in Mosier Valley

At first glance, the Garden of Angels looks like just another cemetery. Oh, but it's not. The Garden and the story behind are both touching and... chilling....

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People

John Hardman by Clint Skinner
Producer, puppeteer

Arlington Texas River Legacy Science Center

River Legacy Science Center
Photo courtesy River Legacy Foundation, 2006

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