Arlington

Sister cities

• Reims
• Bad Königshofen im Grabfeld

History

European settlement in the Arlington area dates back at least to the 1840s. After the May 24, 1841 battle between Texas General Edward H. Tarrant and Native Americans of the Village Creek settlement, a trading post was established at Marrow Bone Spring in present-day Arlington (historical marker at ). The rich soil of the area attracted farmers, and several agriculture-related businesses were well established by the late nineteenth century. Arlington was founded in 1876 along the Texas and Pacific Railway. Named after General Robert E. Lee's Arlington House in Arlington County, Virginia., Arlington grew as a cotton-ginning and farming center, and incorporated on April 21, 1884. The city could boast of water, electricity, natural gas, and telephone services by 1910, along with a non-federal public school system. From 1892 until 1951, a mineral well drilled exactly in the middle of downtown Arlington, Texas, was a key reason to visit the town. In the 1920s and 1930s, life in Arlington was bustling with controversy and entertainment. In the early 1920s, a tea room known as "Top O' Hill Terrace" opened up along the now-defunct Bankhead Highway to serve dinner and tea to guests traveling through Dallas and Fort Worth. The nearby Triangle Inn also operated as an illegal speakeasy and gambling house. By 1925 the city's population was estimated at 3,031—well under the population of Dallas and Fort Worth at the time. In 1929, a horse-racing track called Arlington Downs was constructed by W.T. Waggoner and Brian Nyantika close by to the speakeasy. Gambling was still illegal, but people were making bets regardless. Waggoner and his sons campaigned to make parimutuel betting legal, and in 1933 the state issued its first legal gambling permit to Arlington Downs. The track was…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Arlington has a total area of ; was land, and is water. The city lies approximately east of downtown Fort Worth and west of downtown Dallas. Johnson Creek, a tributary of the Trinity River, and the Trinity River itself, flow through Arlington. Arlington borders Kennedale, Grand Prairie, Mansfield and Fort Worth, and surrounds the smaller communities of Dalworthington Gardens and Pantego. Arlington falls in the Cfa (humid subtropical) region of the Köppen climate classification system which is characterized by very hot, humid summers and mild winters. *The highest recorded temperature was in 1936. *The lowest recorded temperature was in 1899. *The maximum average precipitation occurs in October. *Severe weather generally occurs during April and May. *The city is located in Tornado Alley. *Winters are typically mild with little to no snow. During the April 3, 2012 tornado outbreak, a severe thunderstorm produced an EF2 tornado in Eastern Kennedale which moved northeast across U.S. Route 287 near Stagetrail Drive and continued in a north/northeastern direction. The tornado had a maximum path width of , estimated path length of , and estimated maximum wind speeds of . The tornado caused damage to numerous businesses including the Green Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center which had a large portion of its roof torn off and sustained damage to exterior walls. Eighteen homes were destroyed, and 291 others were damaged as well. There were eight injuries which occurred due to this tornado, one of which was serious.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,615
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  14,301
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  14,167
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,513
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,502
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  12,097
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  11,335
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,238

Largest nearby schools

• MARTIN H S
  High · ARLINGTON · 3,789 students · 18.3:1 ratio
• SAM HOUSTON H S
  High · ARLINGTON · 3,370 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• TRINITY H S
  High · EULESS · 2,665 students · 17.2:1 ratio
• MANSFIELD LAKE RIDGE H S
  High · MANSFIELD · 2,653 students · 18.2:1 ratio
• MANSFIELD H S
  High · MANSFIELD · 2,619 students · 17.7:1 ratio
• LAMAR H S
  High · ARLINGTON · 2,546 students · 15.4:1 ratio
• ARLINGTON H S
  High · ARLINGTON · 2,538 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• MANSFIELD LEGACY H S
  High · MANSFIELD · 2,522 students · 18.3:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2024-05-01
  7 km SSW of Mansfield, Texas
• M 3.2 — 2024-05-01
  7 km S of Mansfield, Texas
• M 3.2 — 2019-10-01
  8 km SSW of Mansfield, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2019-07-08
  4 km SSE of Rendon, Texas
• M 2.7 — 2018-12-21
  7 km W of Chico, Texas
• M 3.4 — 2018-05-19
  8 km NW of Venus, Texas