Arlington, Texas
Encyclopedia
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County
, Texas
(USA
) within the Dallas–Fort Worth
metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex. Arlington is the seventh-largest city in Texas and the 50th largest city in the United States.
Located approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of downtown Fort Worth
and 20 miles (32 km) west of downtown
Dallas
, Arlington is home to the University of Texas at Arlington
, the Texas Rangers'
Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Cowboys Stadium, the International Bowling Campus (which houses the United States Bowling Congress
, International Bowling Museum and the International Bowling Hall of Fame
), the headquarters for American Mensa, and the theme parks Six Flags Over Texas
(the original Six Flags) and Hurricane Harbor. The city borders Kennedale
, Grand Prairie
, Mansfield
and Fort Worth
, and surrounds the smaller communities of Dalworthington Gardens
and Pantego
. Arlington is the headquarters of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV
.
Arlington is also the largest city in the state that is not a county seat.
of the Village Creek settlement, a trading post was established at Marrow Bone Spring in present-day Arlington (historical marker at 32°42.136′N 97°6.772′W). 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
. The city was named after General Robert E. Lee
's Arlington House
(in present-day Arlington County, Virginia
). Arlington grew as a cotton-ginning and farming center, and incorporated in 1884. The city could boast of water, electricity, natural gas, and telephone services by 1910, along with a public school system. By 1925 the population was estimated at 3,031, and it grew to over four thousand before World War II
.
The Arlington Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1945, by community, business, and civic leaders who believed there should be a single voice to speak for the City’s business community.
The rich history of the Chamber traces back to many of the city's most well known and beloved leaders, including three former Mayors who served as Chairman of the Chamber’s Board of Directors: Tom Vandergriff
in 1949–1951, Harold Patterson in 1967-68, and Richard Greene in 1981-82. Today, the Arlington Chamber is one of the region's largest business federations representing business, trade association, and non-profit organization members, who collectively employ more than 60,000 individuals in Arlington, amounting to one-third of the local community workforce.
Large-scale industrialization began in 1954 with the arrival of a General Motors assembly plant. Automotive and aerospace
development gave the city one of the nation's greatest population growth rates between 1950 and 1990. Arlington became one of the "boomburb
s," the extremely fast-growing suburbs of the post-World War II era. U.S. Census Bureau population figures for the city tell the story: 7,692 (1950), 90,229 (1970), 261,721 (1990), and 359,467 (2004 estimate). Tom Vandergriff
served as mayor from 1951 to 1977 during this period of explosive development. Six Flags Over Texas opened in Arlington in 1961. In 1972 the Washington Senators
baseball team relocated to Arlington and began play as the Texas Rangers
and in 2009 the Dallas Cowboys
also began to play at newly constructed Cowboys Stadium.
Cathy Brown of The Dallas Morning News
said in 1998 that "In addition, since Arlington's shirt collar is getting bluer, the flavor of the entire city is changing. The North Central Texas area now has Colleyville
, Southlake
, Grapevine
to be what Arlington used to be. The decisions which produced the fade to blue were made too long ago for any of us today to alter."
Arlington is the largest city in the world without a fixed bus route system of mass transit.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 99.7 square miles (258.2 km²), of which 96.5 square miles (249.9 km²) is land and 3.2 square miles (8.3 km²) (3.19%) is water.
Johnson Creek
, a tributary of the Trinity River
, and the Trinity River itself, flows through Arlington.
Arlington has a humid subtropical climate
, though it is located in a region that also tends to receive warm, dry winds from the north and west in the summer, bringing temperatures well over 100 °F (38 °C) at times and heat-humidity indexes soaring to as high as 117 °F (47 °C). When only temperature itself is accounted for, the north central Texas region where Arlington is located is one of the hottest in the United States during the summer months, usually trailing only the Mojave Desert
basin of Arizona
, southern Nevada
, and southeastern
California
.
Winters in Arlington are generally mild, with normal daytime highs ranging from 55 °F (13 °C) to 70 °F (21 °C) and normal nighttime lows falling in between 30 °F (-1 °C) and 45 °F (7 °C). A day with clear, sunny skies, a high of 63 °F (17 °C), and a low of 36 °F (2 °C) would thus be a very typical one during the winter. However, strong cold fronts known as "Blue Northers" sometimes pass through the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth region, plummeting nightly lows below 30 °F (-1 °C) for up to a few days at a time and keeping daytime highs in a struggle to surpass 40 °F (4 °C). Snow accumulation is usually seen in the city at least once every winter, and snow
fall generally occurs 2–3 days out of the year for an annual average of 2.5 inches. February 2010 saw a record 11 inches of snowfall. Some areas in the region, however, receive more than that, while other areas receive negligible snowfall or none at all. A couple of times each winter in Arlington, warm and humid air from the south will override cold, dry air, resulting in freezing rain
or ice and causing disruptions in the city if the roads and highways become slick. On the other hand, daytime highs above 70 °F (21 °C) are not unusual during the winter season and will occur at least several days each winter month—roughly the same number of days each December, January, and February that low temperatures fall below 30 °F (-1 °C) or that high temperatures fail to reach 50 °F (10 °C). Over the past 15 years, Arlington has averaged 31 annual nights at or below freezing, with the winter of 1999–2000 holding the all-time record as having the fewest freezing nights, with 14. During this same span of 15 years, the temperature in the region has only twice dropped below 15 °F (-9 °C), though it will generally fall below 20 °F (-7 °C) about once every other year. In sum, extremes and variations in winter weather are more readily seen in Arlington and Texas as a whole than along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, due to the state's location in the interior of the North American continent and the lack of any mountainous terrain to the north to block out Arctic weather systems.
Spring and autumn bring pleasant weather to the area. Vibrant wildflower
s (such as the bluebonnet, Indian paintbrush
and other flora) bloom in spring and are planted around the highways throughout Texas. Springtime weather can be quite volatile
, but temperatures themselves are mild. The weather in Arlington is also generally pleasant from late September to early December and on many winter days, but unlike in the springtime, major storms rarely form in the area.
Each spring, cool fronts moving south from Canada
will collide with warm, humid air streaming in from the Gulf Coast, leading to severe thunderstorm
s with lightning
, torrents of rain, hail
, and occasionally, tornadoes. Over time, tornado
es have probably been the biggest natural threat to the city, as it is located near the heart of Tornado Alley
.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture places Arlington in Plant Hardiness Zone 8a.
However, mild winter temperatures in the past 15 to 20 years have encouraged the horticulture of some cold-sensitive plants such as Washingtonia filifera
and Washingtonia robusta
palms. According to the American Lung Association
, Dallas has the 12th highest air pollution among U.S. cities, ranking it behind Los Angeles
and Houston
. Much of the air pollution in Dallas and the surrounding area comes from a hazardous materials incineration plant in the small town of Midlothian
and from concrete installations in neighbouring Ellis County
. Another major contributor to air pollution in Dallas is exhaust from automobiles. Due to the metropolitan area's spread-out nature and high amount of urban sprawl
, automobiles are the only viable mode of transportation for many.
, the racial composition of Arlington was as follows:
Source:
As of the census
of 2000, there were 332,969 people, 124,686 households, and 85,035 families residing in the city. The population density
was 3,475.0 people per square mile (1,341.7/km²). There were 130,628 housing units at an average density of 1,363.3 per square mile (526.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.69% White, 13.73% Black or African American
, 0.55% Native American, 6.01% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 8.94% from other races
, and 2.94% from two or more races. 18.27% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 124,686 households out of which 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.6% were married couples
living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.20.
In the city the population was spread out with 28.3% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 35.7% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $47,622, and the median income for a family was $56,080. Males had a median income of $38,612 versus $29,339 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $22,445. About 7.3% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.3% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over. Average rents in Arlington in 2005 were $537 for a one bedroom apartment, and $701 for a two bedroom apartment.
Arlington is the 50th largest city in the United States by population.
since 2003, following the six-year reign of Mayor Elzie Odom.
The Arlington City Council is composed of a Mayor Robert Cluck and eight City Council members. Elections are conducted every spring in May. State Representative
Leo Berman
of Tyler
formerly resided in Arlington and served on the city council, including a stint as mayor pro tempore from 1979 to 1985.
According to Arlington's most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city’s various funds had $572.8 million in Revenues, $425.8 million in expenditures, $2.213 million in total assets, $835 million in total liabilities, and $297.7 million in cash in investments.
Fire protection is provided by the Arlington Fire Department, and emergency medical services are provided by American Medical Response
, which also provides medical support to Cowboys Stadium.
The structure of the management and coordination of city services is:
(USPS) operates the Arlington Main Post Office. Other post offices operated by the USPS include Bardin Road, East Arlington, Great Southwest, Oakwood, Pantego, and Watson Community.
The National Transportation Safety Board
operates the Arlington Aviation field office in Arlington.
(UTA), the Southeast Campus of Tarrant County College
, and Arlington Baptist College
. The University of Phoenix and Texas Tech University also have a presence in Arlington near Interstate 20.
The University of Texas at Arlington is the second largest institution of the University of Texas System
. The university has a current enrollment of 32,956 students as of Fall 2010, and is a valuable asset to the city of Arlington and its economy. Buildings within the academic core of the UT Arlington campus are among the oldest structures in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
, including Preston Hall, Ransom Hall, College Hall, Brazos House, and the original Arlington High School
.
, Mansfield ISD
, Grand Prairie ISD
and Kennedale ISD
. Parts of Arlington located in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD
's jurisdiction currently have no residents, but this is being developed into as many as 4,000 homes. In Texas, school district boundaries do not always follow city and county boundaries because all aspects of school district government apparatus, including district boundaries, are separated from city and county governments. Not all city of Arlington residents are in the AISD, and not all AISD students are residents of Arlington.
Summit International Preparatory, a K-12 charter school of Uplift Education
, is in Arlington.
Arlington Classics Academy is a K-7 charter school in Arlington with two campuses.
baseball team, who made Arlington Stadium
their first home upon moving to Dallas/Fort Worth from Washington, D.C., in 1972. In 1994, the Rangers built a new stadium, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. In 2009, the Dallas Cowboys
football team would leave Texas Stadium
in Irving for a new stadium down the road from Rangers Ballpark, Cowboys Stadium.
The Cowboys' move has attracted high-profile sporting events to Arlington, including the 2010 NBA All-Star Game
and Super Bowl XLV
in 2011. In between the two events was the Rangers' trips to the 2010
and 2011 World Series
, the first of which they lost to the San Francisco Giants
in 5 games, and the second of which they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals
in 7 games.
owns the city's only state football championship, having won it in 1951 under head coach Mayfield Workman
. Lamar High School nearly pulled off the same feat in 1990, but had to settle for a state runner-up title. In recent years, Bowie High School
, Martin High School
and Mansfield Summit High School
(a Mansfield ISD
school located within Arlington) have enjoyed some success.
The University of Texas at Arlington
used to field a football team, but the program was canceled in 1985 due to funding issues and waning attendance. The football vacancy at the campus stadium, Maverick Stadium
, was quickly filled by Arlington High and subsequently Bowie High School. Cravens Field, on the campus of Lamar but funded by Martin High School, and Wilemon Field, on the campus of Sam Houston, are home to the other four teams in the city. Both have enjoyed a history of close and dramatic games.
High school teams in various other sports have state championships to their credit, including:
Several individual state titles have also been won by Arlington students including the following:
Arlington is the home of several notable athletes. 1998 American League Rookie of the Year Ben Grieve
graduated from Martin High School in 1994. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
outfielder Vernon Wells grew up in Arlington and attended Bowie High School, Houston Astros
outfielder Hunter Pence
attended Arlington High School and played collegiate baseball at University of Texas at Arlington
, and Boston Red Sox
pitcher John Lackey
also played for UTA. Lamar High School alumnus Jeremy Wariner
won two gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics, and the 2005 world championship in the 400 meters in Rome. UTA also produced Doug Russell, who won two gold medals in swimming at the Mexico City Olympics
in 1968 and for whom a park on campus is named and Rick Stone, All-Southland Conference track athlete at UTA who later became a United States Department of Justice "Law Enforcement Officer of the Year" and the most highly decorated officer in Dallas Police Department history with multiple awards including the Medal of Valor.
. Champion bodybuilder (Mr. Olympia 1998–2005) and former Arlington police officer, Ronnie Coleman
resides in Arlington. Houston Comets
Guard Erin Grant grew up in Arlington and attended Mansfield high school where she became the first high school basketball player to win four state championships. She currently holds the Big 12 assist record. NFL wide receiver Mark Clayton, now with the St. Louis Rams
, graduated from Sam Houston High School in 2000 and was part of the University of Oklahoma's 2001 national championship team. Jared Connaughton
, sprinter for the 2008 Canada olympic team, was a sprinter for the UT Arlington team.
, a nation-wide theme park that includes many notable attractions. Six Flags
also opened Hurricane Harbor, a waterpark, after the previous location, Wet 'n Wild, was sold to them in the mid 90's.
With the relocation of the U.S. Bowling Congress, and the Bowling Proprietors Association of America and the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, Arlington became the world headquarters for bowling.
The brothers Vinnie Paul Abbott
and Darrell Abbott
are the two most notable musicians from Arlington who formed the metal
group Pantera
. Ever since Darrell died on December 8, 2004 friends, family, and the community participate in the Ride For Dime event every year on August 20, Darrell's birthday. This attraction includes music, a ride by his cemetery, and booze.
For retail shopping, Arlington is home to The Parks Mall at Arlington, which houses numerous retail outlets and a movie theatre. In addition, The Arlington Highlands was completed in mid-2007, serving as an entertainment hotspot with places such as Studio Movie Grill, Piranha Killer Sushi, BJ's Brewhouse, The Improv Theatre, Blackfinn, Plucker's, World Market and Dave and Busters, among others. The Arlington Highlands is located on I-20 at Matlock Rd.
Arlington is also home to Theatre Arlington
, one of the largest community theatres in the nation which produces quality live theatre year round and offers theater classes for all ages.
Levitt Pavilion opened in 2009 and offers 50 free concerts per year in Downtown, Arlington
On July 4, the Arlington 4th Of July Parade Association puts on the annual parade through Downtown, Arlington featuring floats and entries from local school, businesses, and organizations. The parade is broadcast on local stations as well as on via AISD TV.
is located in Arlington.
Arlington is the largest city in the United States not served by a comprehensive public transport
ation system. Voters have rejected a fixed-route bus transit system three times. However, Arlington has four transit systems targeting individual demographic groups. Handitran serves senior citizens and the disabled. Arlington hotels pay for a tourist-oriented shuttle bus system for their guests. The University of Texas at Arlington runs a shuttle service for college students. Lastly, Mission Arlington, an Arlington-run charity, has a bus system that circulates people needing various social services, as well as transportation to employment.
The city is served by two Interstate Highways,
I-20
, also known as Ronald Reagan
Memorial Highway, and
I-30, also named Tom Landry
Memorial Highway. Other limited-access freeways include
State Highway 360, which is named for the founder of Six Flags Over Texas
, Angus G. Wynne
, running along the eastern border, and
U.S. Highway 287
, which traverses the southwestern portion of the city. In most cases, the memorial names are not used in reference to these roadways.
The Union Pacific Railroad
now owns and operates the Texas and Pacific (later Missouri Pacific
) route though Arlington.
Germany Bad Königshofen
, Germany
have been sister cities since 1952. Arlington operates the Bad Königshofen outdoor family aquatic center, named after its sister city. In return, Bad Königshofen has a recreational park named after Arlington. The relationship between the two cities dates to 1951, when the German town manager, Kurt Zuhlke, visited Arlington as part of a study tour in the U.S.
Tarrant County, Texas
Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, it had a population of 1,809,034. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County is the sixteenth most populous county in the United States and the third most populous in Texas. The county is named in honor...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) within the Dallas–Fort Worth
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area...
metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex. Arlington is the seventh-largest city in Texas and the 50th largest city in the United States.
Located approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of downtown Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
and 20 miles (32 km) west of downtown
Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District in Dallas, Texas USA, located in the geographic center of the city. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally been defined as bounded by the downtown freeway loop: bounded on the east by I-345 Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District...
Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Arlington is home to the University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington is a public research university located in Arlington, Texas, United States. The campus is situated southwest of downtown Arlington, and is located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. The university was founded in 1895 and served primarily a military...
, the Texas Rangers'
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Cowboys Stadium, the International Bowling Campus (which houses the United States Bowling Congress
United States Bowling Congress
The United States Bowling Congress is a sports membership organization dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States. It was formed in 2005 by a merger of the American Bowling Congress, Women's International Bowling Congress, Young American Bowling Alliance, and USA Bowling...
, International Bowling Museum and the International Bowling Hall of Fame
International Bowling Hall of Fame
The World Bowling Writers International Bowling Hall of Fame was established in 1993 and is located in the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, on the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas.-Criteria for election:...
), the headquarters for American Mensa, and the theme parks Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Over Texas is a major amusement park located in Arlington, Texas , east of Fort Worth and about west of Dallas. It is the oldest park of the Six Flags chain. The park opened on August 5, 1961 following just a year of construction and an initial investment of US$10 million by real estate...
(the original Six Flags) and Hurricane Harbor. The city borders Kennedale
Kennedale, Texas
Kennedale is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,763 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Kennedale is located at ....
, Grand Prairie
Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas and is a part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Grand Prairie is a suburb of both Dallas and Fort Worth and had a population of 175,396 at the 2010 census.- History :The city of...
, Mansfield
Mansfield, Texas
Mansfield is a city in Ellis, Johnson, and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 56,368.In 2009, CNN/Money Magazine rated Mansfield as one of the "Best Places to Live" in the United States, ranking 24th out of the top 100 places.-History:The first...
and Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, and surrounds the smaller communities of Dalworthington Gardens
Dalworthington Gardens, Texas
Dalworthington Gardens is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,259 at the 2010 census.The name is a portmanteau of parts of names of the three anchor cities of the Metroplex: Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington.-Geography:Dalworthington Gardens is located at ...
and Pantego
Pantego, Texas
Pantego is a town in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,394 at the 2010 census. It is entirely surrounded by the cities of Arlington and Dalworthington Gardens...
. Arlington is the headquarters of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV is one of the regions of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Headquartered in Arlington, Texas, oversees the southern midwestern and the western United States.Region IV consists of 14 nuclear power plants....
.
Arlington is also the largest city in the state that is not a county seat.
History
Anglo-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 (Tarrant County is named for him) and Native AmericansIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
of the Village Creek settlement, a trading post was established at Marrow Bone Spring in present-day Arlington (historical marker at 32°42.136′N 97°6.772′W). The rich soil of the area attracted farmers, and several agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
-related businesses were well established by the late nineteenth century.
Arlington was founded in 1876 along the Texas and Pacific Railway
Texas and Pacific Railway
The Texas and Pacific Railway Company was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California....
. The city was named after General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
's Arlington House
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, formerly named the Custis-Lee Mansion, is a Greek revival style mansion located in Arlington, Virginia, USA that was once the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It overlooks the Potomac River, directly across from the National Mall in Washington,...
(in present-day Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
). Arlington grew as a cotton-ginning and farming center, and incorporated in 1884. The city could boast of water, electricity, natural gas, and telephone services by 1910, along with a public school system. By 1925 the population was estimated at 3,031, and it grew to over four thousand before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The Arlington Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1945, by community, business, and civic leaders who believed there should be a single voice to speak for the City’s business community.
The rich history of the Chamber traces back to many of the city's most well known and beloved leaders, including three former Mayors who served as Chairman of the Chamber’s Board of Directors: Tom Vandergriff
Tom Vandergriff
Tommy Joe Vandergriff was a politician from Texas. He served as Mayor of Arlington from 1951 to 1977, as a U.S. Representative from from 1983 to 1985, and as County Judge of Tarrant County from 1991 to 2007...
in 1949–1951, Harold Patterson in 1967-68, and Richard Greene in 1981-82. Today, the Arlington Chamber is one of the region's largest business federations representing business, trade association, and non-profit organization members, who collectively employ more than 60,000 individuals in Arlington, amounting to one-third of the local community workforce.
Large-scale industrialization began in 1954 with the arrival of a General Motors assembly plant. Automotive and aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
development gave the city one of the nation's greatest population growth rates between 1950 and 1990. Arlington became one of the "boomburb
Boomburb
Boomburb is a neologism for a large, rapidly growing city that remains essentially suburban in character even as it reaches populations more typical of urban core cities...
s," the extremely fast-growing suburbs of the post-World War II era. U.S. Census Bureau population figures for the city tell the story: 7,692 (1950), 90,229 (1970), 261,721 (1990), and 359,467 (2004 estimate). Tom Vandergriff
Tom Vandergriff
Tommy Joe Vandergriff was a politician from Texas. He served as Mayor of Arlington from 1951 to 1977, as a U.S. Representative from from 1983 to 1985, and as County Judge of Tarrant County from 1991 to 2007...
served as mayor from 1951 to 1977 during this period of explosive development. Six Flags Over Texas opened in Arlington in 1961. In 1972 the Washington Senators
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
baseball team relocated to Arlington and began play as the Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
and in 2009 the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
also began to play at newly constructed Cowboys Stadium.
Cathy Brown of The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
said in 1998 that "In addition, since Arlington's shirt collar is getting bluer, the flavor of the entire city is changing. The North Central Texas area now has Colleyville
Colleyville, Texas
Colleyville is a city in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, United States. Located roughly from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the population was 22,807 at the 2010 census. Emerging from a number of small, rural settlements along the Cotton Belt Route, Colleyville was established in the...
, Southlake
Southlake, Texas
Southlake is a city in northeast Tarrant and southeast Denton counties, Texas. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 26,575. A suburb of Fort Worth and Dallas, Southlake is known for exemplary public schools, Southlake Town Square, and Carroll High School's 7-time state champion football...
, Grapevine
Grapevine, Texas
Grapevine is a city in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, United States located within the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census the city population was 46,334. The city's moniker is derived from the native grapes prevalent in the area. In recent years several wineries have...
to be what Arlington used to be. The decisions which produced the fade to blue were made too long ago for any of us today to alter."
Arlington is the largest city in the world without a fixed bus route system of mass transit.
Geography
Arlington is located at 32°42′18"N 97°7′22"W (32.705033, -97.122839).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 99.7 square miles (258.2 km²), of which 96.5 square miles (249.9 km²) is land and 3.2 square miles (8.3 km²) (3.19%) is water.
Johnson Creek
Johnson Creek (Texas)
Johnson Creek is a stream in the Trinity River watershed in North Texas .The creek rises near Interstate 20 in eastern Tarrant County and runs northeasterly for to the West Fork of the Trinity River in Grand Prairie, within Dallas County...
, a tributary of the Trinity River
Trinity River (Texas)
The Trinity River is a long river that flows entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. It rises in extreme north Texas, a few miles south of the Red River. The headwaters are separated by the high bluffs on the south side of the Red River....
, and the Trinity River itself, flows through Arlington.
Climate
- July and August are the warmest months, on average.
- The highest recorded temperature was 113°F in 1980.
- January is the average coolest month.
- The lowest recorded temperature was -8°F in 1899.
- The maximum average precipitation occurs in May.
Arlington has a humid subtropical climate
Humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters...
, though it is located in a region that also tends to receive warm, dry winds from the north and west in the summer, bringing temperatures well over 100 °F (38 °C) at times and heat-humidity indexes soaring to as high as 117 °F (47 °C). When only temperature itself is accounted for, the north central Texas region where Arlington is located is one of the hottest in the United States during the summer months, usually trailing only the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
basin of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, southern Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, and southeastern
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Winters in Arlington are generally mild, with normal daytime highs ranging from 55 °F (13 °C) to 70 °F (21 °C) and normal nighttime lows falling in between 30 °F (-1 °C) and 45 °F (7 °C). A day with clear, sunny skies, a high of 63 °F (17 °C), and a low of 36 °F (2 °C) would thus be a very typical one during the winter. However, strong cold fronts known as "Blue Northers" sometimes pass through the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth region, plummeting nightly lows below 30 °F (-1 °C) for up to a few days at a time and keeping daytime highs in a struggle to surpass 40 °F (4 °C). Snow accumulation is usually seen in the city at least once every winter, and snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
fall generally occurs 2–3 days out of the year for an annual average of 2.5 inches. February 2010 saw a record 11 inches of snowfall. Some areas in the region, however, receive more than that, while other areas receive negligible snowfall or none at all. A couple of times each winter in Arlington, warm and humid air from the south will override cold, dry air, resulting in freezing rain
Freezing rain
Freezing rain is the name given to rain that falls when surface temperatures are below freezing. The raindrops become supercooled while passing through a sub-freezing layer of air, many hundred feet , just above the surface, and then freeze upon impact with any object they encounter. The resulting...
or ice and causing disruptions in the city if the roads and highways become slick. On the other hand, daytime highs above 70 °F (21 °C) are not unusual during the winter season and will occur at least several days each winter month—roughly the same number of days each December, January, and February that low temperatures fall below 30 °F (-1 °C) or that high temperatures fail to reach 50 °F (10 °C). Over the past 15 years, Arlington has averaged 31 annual nights at or below freezing, with the winter of 1999–2000 holding the all-time record as having the fewest freezing nights, with 14. During this same span of 15 years, the temperature in the region has only twice dropped below 15 °F (-9 °C), though it will generally fall below 20 °F (-7 °C) about once every other year. In sum, extremes and variations in winter weather are more readily seen in Arlington and Texas as a whole than along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, due to the state's location in the interior of the North American continent and the lack of any mountainous terrain to the north to block out Arctic weather systems.
Spring and autumn bring pleasant weather to the area. Vibrant wildflower
Wildflower
A wildflower is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet "wildflower" meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term "wildflower" has been made vague by commercial seedsmen who are interested in selling more flowers or seeds more...
s (such as the bluebonnet, Indian paintbrush
Castilleja
Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush or Prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, northern Asia, and one species as far west as the Kola Peninsula in Siberia...
and other flora) bloom in spring and are planted around the highways throughout Texas. Springtime weather can be quite volatile
Severe weather
Severe weather phenomena are weather conditions that are hazardous to human life and property.- Examples Include :Severe weather can occur under a variety of situations, but three characteristics are generally needed: a temperature or moisture boundary, moisture, and , instability in the...
, but temperatures themselves are mild. The weather in Arlington is also generally pleasant from late September to early December and on many winter days, but unlike in the springtime, major storms rarely form in the area.
Each spring, cool fronts moving south from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
will collide with warm, humid air streaming in from the Gulf Coast, leading to severe thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
s with lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
, torrents of rain, hail
Hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
, and occasionally, tornadoes. Over time, tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
es have probably been the biggest natural threat to the city, as it is located near the heart of Tornado Alley
Tornado Alley
Tornado Alley is a colloquial and popular media term that most often refers to the area of the United States where tornadoes are most frequent. Although an official location is not defined, the area between the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian Mountains is usually associated with it.The areas...
.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture places Arlington in Plant Hardiness Zone 8a.
However, mild winter temperatures in the past 15 to 20 years have encouraged the horticulture of some cold-sensitive plants such as Washingtonia filifera
Washingtonia filifera
Washingtonia filifera , with the common names California Fan Palm , Desert Fan Palm, Cotton palm, and Arizona Fan Palm. It is a palm native to southwestern North America between an elevation range of , at seeps, desert bajadas, and springs where underground water is continuously available...
and Washingtonia robusta
Washingtonia robusta
Washingtonia robusta is a palm tree native to western Sonora and Baja California Sur in northwestern Mexico. It grows to tall, rarely up to . The leaves have a petiole up to long, and a palmate fan of leaflets up to 1 m long. The inflorescence is up to long, with numerous small pale orange-pink...
palms. According to the American Lung Association
American Lung Association
The American Lung Association is a voluntary health organization whose mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease.-History:...
, Dallas has the 12th highest air pollution among U.S. cities, ranking it behind Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. Much of the air pollution in Dallas and the surrounding area comes from a hazardous materials incineration plant in the small town of Midlothian
Midlothian, Texas
Midlothian is a city in northwest Ellis County, Texas, United States. It is the hub for the cement industry in North Texas as it is the home to three separate cement production facilities, as well as a steel mill. Midlothian is also a fast growing community with a growth rate of 142% since 2000...
and from concrete installations in neighbouring Ellis County
Ellis County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 111,360 people, 37,020 households, and 29,653 families residing in the county. The population density was 118 people per square mile . There were 39,071 housing units at an average density of 42 per square mile...
. Another major contributor to air pollution in Dallas is exhaust from automobiles. Due to the metropolitan area's spread-out nature and high amount of urban sprawl
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
, automobiles are the only viable mode of transportation for many.
Demographics
According to the 2006–2008 American Community SurveyAmerican Community Survey
The American Community Survey is an ongoing statistical survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, sent to approximately 250,000 addresses monthly . It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census...
, the racial composition of Arlington was as follows:
- WhiteWhite AmericanWhite Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
: 63.2% (Non-Hispanic WhitesNon-Hispanic WhitesNon-Hispanic Whites or White, Not Hispanic or Latino are people in the United States, as defined by the Census Bureau, who are of the White race and are not of Hispanic or Latino origin/ethnicity. Hence the designation is exclusive in the sense that it defines who is not included as opposed to who is...
: 43.8%) - Black or African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
: 17.4% - Native AmericanNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
: 0.5% - AsianAsian AmericanAsian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
: 6.4% - Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific IslanderPacific Islander AmericanPacific Islander Americans, also known as Oceanian Americans, are residents of the United States with original ancestry from Oceania. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population...
: 0.1% - Some other race: 10.1%
- Two or more racesMultiracial AmericanMultiracial Americans, US residents who identify themselves as of "two or more races", were numbered at around 9 million, or 2.9% of the population, in the census of 2010. However there is considerable evidence that the real number is far higher. Prior to the mid-20th century many people hid their...
: 2.3%
- Hispanic or LatinoHispanic and Latino AmericansHispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
(of any race): 29.2%
Source:
As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 332,969 people, 124,686 households, and 85,035 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 3,475.0 people per square mile (1,341.7/km²). There were 130,628 housing units at an average density of 1,363.3 per square mile (526.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.69% White, 13.73% Black or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.55% Native American, 6.01% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 8.94% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.94% from two or more races. 18.27% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 124,686 households out of which 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.20.
In the city the population was spread out with 28.3% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 35.7% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $47,622, and the median income for a family was $56,080. Males had a median income of $38,612 versus $29,339 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $22,445. About 7.3% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.3% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over. Average rents in Arlington in 2005 were $537 for a one bedroom apartment, and $701 for a two bedroom apartment.
Arlington is the 50th largest city in the United States by population.
Local
The Arlington City Council has been presided over by Mayor Robert CluckRobert Cluck
Dr. Robert Cluck, M.D., is the current mayor of Arlington, Texas, and a former obstetrician-gynecologist. He was elected to the office of Mayor of the City of Arlington in May 2003 after serving two terms on the City Council...
since 2003, following the six-year reign of Mayor Elzie Odom.
The Arlington City Council is composed of a Mayor Robert Cluck and eight City Council members. Elections are conducted every spring in May. State Representative
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
Leo Berman
Leo Berman
Leo C. Berman is a retired businessman and military officer who has been a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 6 since January 1999. Berman announced a challenge to Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio for the presiding officer's position in January 2011...
of Tyler
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
formerly resided in Arlington and served on the city council, including a stint as mayor pro tempore from 1979 to 1985.
According to Arlington's most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city’s various funds had $572.8 million in Revenues, $425.8 million in expenditures, $2.213 million in total assets, $835 million in total liabilities, and $297.7 million in cash in investments.
Fire protection is provided by the Arlington Fire Department, and emergency medical services are provided by American Medical Response
American Medical Response
American Medical Response, Inc. or is an American provider of emergency and non-emergency medical transportation, operating in 38 states and the District of Columbia. It employs around 17,000 personnel and has a fleet of 4,400 vehicles...
, which also provides medical support to Cowboys Stadium.
The structure of the management and coordination of city services is:
| Department | Director |
|---|---|
| Interim City Manager | Bob Byrd |
| Director of Community Development & Planning | Jim Parajon |
| Code Compliance Services Assistant Director | Mike Bass |
| Director of the Convention Center | Mark Wisness |
| Finance and Management Resources Director | April Nixon |
| Fire Chief | Don Crowson |
| Chief Information Officer | Dennis John |
| Library Director | Cary Siegfried |
| Director of Municipal Court | David Preciado |
| Director of Parks & Recreation | Pete Jamieson |
| Police Chief | Dr. Theron Bowman |
| Interim Director of Public Works & Transportation | Keith Melton |
| Director of Water Utilities | Julie Hunt |
| Director of Workforce Services | Cindy Bezaury |
| Medical Director | Cynthia Simmons |
Federal representation
The United States Postal ServiceUnited States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
(USPS) operates the Arlington Main Post Office. Other post offices operated by the USPS include Bardin Road, East Arlington, Great Southwest, Oakwood, Pantego, and Watson Community.
The National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
operates the Arlington Aviation field office in Arlington.
Colleges and universities
Arlington is home to The University of Texas at ArlingtonUniversity of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington is a public research university located in Arlington, Texas, United States. The campus is situated southwest of downtown Arlington, and is located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. The university was founded in 1895 and served primarily a military...
(UTA), the Southeast Campus of Tarrant County College
Tarrant County College
Tarrant County College ' or Tarrant County College District is a community college serving the Fort Worth area in Tarrant County, Texas and providing degree programs toward an Associate of Arts, an Associate of Applied Science or Associate of Arts in Teaching...
, and Arlington Baptist College
Arlington Baptist College
Arlington Baptist College is a private, four-year Bible college in Arlington, Texas. The school was founded by J. Frank Norris in 1939 as Fundamental Baptist Bible Institute.In June 2011 it hired Ergun Caner, a former Muslim, as Provost and professor....
. The University of Phoenix and Texas Tech University also have a presence in Arlington near Interstate 20.
The University of Texas at Arlington is the second largest institution of the University of Texas System
University of Texas System
The University of Texas System encompasses 15 educational institutions in Texas, of which nine are academic universities and six are health institutions. The system is headquartered in Austin and has a total enrollment of over 190,000 students...
. The university has a current enrollment of 32,956 students as of Fall 2010, and is a valuable asset to the city of Arlington and its economy. Buildings within the academic core of the UT Arlington campus are among the oldest structures in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area...
, including Preston Hall, Ransom Hall, College Hall, Brazos House, and the original Arlington High School
Arlington High School (Arlington, Texas)
Arlington High School, located in Arlington, Texas, is a secondary school serving grades 9-12. It is one of the six high schools comprising the Arlington Independent School District. The current principal is Jennifer Young; the mascot is the Colt and the schools’ colors are Kelly Green and White...
.
Primary and secondary schools
Arlington's residents live in the following four independent school districts (or ISDs), listed in descending order with respect to number of population served: Arlington ISDArlington Independent School District
Arlington Independent School District or AISD is a school district based in Arlington, Texas .The district covers the majority of Arlington and portions of Grand Prairie. The district serves the entirety of the small towns of Pantego and Dalworthington Gardens. A portion of Fort Worth lies within...
, Mansfield ISD
Mansfield Independent School District
Mansfield Independent School District is a school district headquartered in Mansfield, Texas, United States.MISD serves Mansfield and portions of the cities of Grand Prairie, Arlington, and Burleson. The district also extends into northeastern Johnson County....
, Grand Prairie ISD
Grand Prairie Independent School District
Grand Prairie Independent School District is a school district headquartered in Grand Prairie, Texas, United States.GPISD is a district serving more than 22,000 students within the Dallas County portion of Grand Prairie. The district boasts 36 campuses, including 23 elementary schools, seven...
and Kennedale ISD
Kennedale Independent School District
Kennedale Independent School District is a public school district based in Kennedale, Texas .In addition to Kennedale, the district serves small portions of Arlington and Fort Worth....
. Parts of Arlington located in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District is a K-12 public school district based in Bedford, Texas .The district serves the city of Bedford, most of the cities of Euless and Hurst, and small parts of North Richland Hills, Colleyville, Fort Worth, and Arlington...
's jurisdiction currently have no residents, but this is being developed into as many as 4,000 homes. In Texas, school district boundaries do not always follow city and county boundaries because all aspects of school district government apparatus, including district boundaries, are separated from city and county governments. Not all city of Arlington residents are in the AISD, and not all AISD students are residents of Arlington.
Summit International Preparatory, a K-12 charter school of Uplift Education
Uplift Education
Uplift Education is a charter school operator headquartered on the grounds of North Hills Preparatory School in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.-Schools:K-12* North Hills Preparatory * Peak Preparatory...
, is in Arlington.
Arlington Classics Academy is a K-7 charter school in Arlington with two campuses.
Sports and entertainment
Professional sports
Arlington has long been the home of the Texas RangersTexas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
baseball team, who made Arlington Stadium
Arlington Stadium
Arlington Stadium was a baseball stadium located in Arlington, Texas, United States, located between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. It served as the home for the Texas Rangers from 1972 until 1993, when the team moved into The Ballpark in Arlington .-1960s:The stadium was built in 1965 as Turnpike...
their first home upon moving to Dallas/Fort Worth from Washington, D.C., in 1972. In 1994, the Rangers built a new stadium, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. In 2009, the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
football team would leave Texas Stadium
Texas Stadium
Texas Stadium was a football stadium in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The stadium opened on September 17, 1971.Built to replace the aging Cotton Bowl, it was the home field of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, and had a seating capacity of 65,675...
in Irving for a new stadium down the road from Rangers Ballpark, Cowboys Stadium.
The Cowboys' move has attracted high-profile sporting events to Arlington, including the 2010 NBA All-Star Game
2010 NBA All-Star Game
The 2010 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game between players selected from the National Basketball Association 's Western Conference and the Eastern Conference that was played on February 14, 2010 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. This game was the 59th edition...
and Super Bowl XLV
Super Bowl XLV
Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League champion for the 2010 season. The game was held at Cowboys Stadium in...
in 2011. In between the two events was the Rangers' trips to the 2010
2010 World Series
The 2010 World Series was the 106th occurrence of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff, played between the American League champion Texas Rangers and the National League champion San Francisco Giants, began on Wednesday, , and ended on Monday, , with the Giants...
and 2011 World Series
2011 World Series
The 2011 World Series was the 107th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff was played between the American League champion Texas Rangers and the National League champion St...
, the first of which they lost to the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
in 5 games, and the second of which they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
in 7 games.
Local sports
As in the rest of Texas, Friday night high school football is a widespread obsession with fans of all ages. Arlington High SchoolArlington High School (Arlington, Texas)
Arlington High School, located in Arlington, Texas, is a secondary school serving grades 9-12. It is one of the six high schools comprising the Arlington Independent School District. The current principal is Jennifer Young; the mascot is the Colt and the schools’ colors are Kelly Green and White...
owns the city's only state football championship, having won it in 1951 under head coach Mayfield Workman
Mayfield Workman
Mayfield “Bull” Workman is a former American football coach. He served as head coach at Arlington High School from 1951–1962, guiding the school to its only state title to date, in 1951. Following his coaching career, he became athletic director of the Arlington Independent School District — a...
. Lamar High School nearly pulled off the same feat in 1990, but had to settle for a state runner-up title. In recent years, Bowie High School
Bowie High School (Arlington, Texas)
James Bowie High School is a secondary school in Arlington, Texas. The school is a part of Arlington Independent School District and serves students in grades 9 through 12 in southeast Arlington and southwest Grand Prairie...
, Martin High School
Martin High School (Arlington, Texas)
James Martin High School is a secondary school serving grades 9-12 located in Arlington, Texas and is part of the Arlington Independent School District. The mascot of the school is the Warrior, and the school colors are black, red, and silver.-History:...
and Mansfield Summit High School
Mansfield Summit High School
Mansfield Summit High School is a size 4A secondary school located in Arlington, Texas, and is part of the Mansfield Independent School District.The school first opened in Fall of 2002....
(a Mansfield ISD
Mansfield Independent School District
Mansfield Independent School District is a school district headquartered in Mansfield, Texas, United States.MISD serves Mansfield and portions of the cities of Grand Prairie, Arlington, and Burleson. The district also extends into northeastern Johnson County....
school located within Arlington) have enjoyed some success.
The University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington is a public research university located in Arlington, Texas, United States. The campus is situated southwest of downtown Arlington, and is located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. The university was founded in 1895 and served primarily a military...
used to field a football team, but the program was canceled in 1985 due to funding issues and waning attendance. The football vacancy at the campus stadium, Maverick Stadium
Maverick Stadium
Maverick Stadium is a 15,000-seat multi-purpose stadium on the western edge of University of Texas at Arlington campus.It hosts the university's track and field teams as well as many community events, and is also leased to the Arlington Independent School District for use by its high school...
, was quickly filled by Arlington High and subsequently Bowie High School. Cravens Field, on the campus of Lamar but funded by Martin High School, and Wilemon Field, on the campus of Sam Houston, are home to the other four teams in the city. Both have enjoyed a history of close and dramatic games.
High school teams in various other sports have state championships to their credit, including:
- Arlington, volleyball (1970, 1976, 1982)
- Bowie, girls' basketball (2005)
- Martin, baseball (1993)
- Martin, boys' wrestling (2004)
- Martin, girls' soccer (1992, 1998)
- Martin, volleyball (1996, 2005)
- Mansfield, girls basketball(1999–2002) (campus located in Arlington city limits at the time of the state championships)
- Mansfield Summit, girl's basketball (2009) (campus located in Arlington City limits)
Several individual state titles have also been won by Arlington students including the following:
- Arlington, boys' wrestling, 112 weight class (2007)
- Arlington, girls' wrestling, 215 weight class (2007)
- Arlington, boys' wrestling, 152 weight class & all around state champion (2005)
- Bowie, boys' wrestling, 152 weight class (2007)
- Bowie, boys' wrestling, 145 weight class (2006)
- Lamar, boys' wrestling, 152 weight class (2003)
- Lamar, boys' wrestling, 152 weight class (2004)
- Martin, boys' wrestling, 130 weight class (2006)
- Martin, boys' wrestling, 112 weight class (2004)
- Martin, boys' wrestling, 135 weight class (2004)
- Martin, boys' wrestling, 275 weight class (2004)
- Mansfield girls track, high jump 6'1" jump (2000) (Brie Madden lived in Arlington but attended Mansfield at the time, also located in Arlington city limits)
Arlington is the home of several notable athletes. 1998 American League Rookie of the Year Ben Grieve
Ben Grieve
Benjamin Grieve is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. In his nine-season career, he played with the Oakland Athletics , Tampa Bay Devil Rays , Milwaukee Brewers , and Chicago Cubs .Grieve won the American League Rookie of the Year...
graduated from Martin High School in 1994. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
outfielder Vernon Wells grew up in Arlington and attended Bowie High School, Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
outfielder Hunter Pence
Hunter Pence
Hunter Andrew Pence is a Major League Baseball outfielder with the Philadelphia Phillies. Pence stands tall and weighs . He bats and throws right-handed.-Early life:...
attended Arlington High School and played collegiate baseball at University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington is a public research university located in Arlington, Texas, United States. The campus is situated southwest of downtown Arlington, and is located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. The university was founded in 1895 and served primarily a military...
, and Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
pitcher John Lackey
John Lackey
John Derran Lackey is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. Lackey was drafted by the Anaheim Angels in 1999 and helped the franchise win its first World Series title in 2002, which was his first season in the major leagues...
also played for UTA. Lamar High School alumnus Jeremy Wariner
Jeremy Wariner
Jeremy Mathew Wariner is an American track athlete specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic medals and six World Championships medals...
won two gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics, and the 2005 world championship in the 400 meters in Rome. UTA also produced Doug Russell, who won two gold medals in swimming at the Mexico City Olympics
Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics
At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, 29 events in swimming were contested. There was a total of 468 participants from 51 countries competing. The United States dominated the competition, winning 52 of 87 medals.-Medal table:-Men's events:...
in 1968 and for whom a park on campus is named and Rick Stone, All-Southland Conference track athlete at UTA who later became a United States Department of Justice "Law Enforcement Officer of the Year" and the most highly decorated officer in Dallas Police Department history with multiple awards including the Medal of Valor.
. Champion bodybuilder (Mr. Olympia 1998–2005) and former Arlington police officer, Ronnie Coleman
Ronnie Coleman
Ronnie Dean "Big Ron" Coleman is an American professional bodybuilder who holds the record of eight straight wins as Mr. Olympia, a record career total that he shares with Lee Haney.-Biography:...
resides in Arlington. Houston Comets
Houston Comets
The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Houston, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the best original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. The Comets were the first dynasty of the WNBA and...
Guard Erin Grant grew up in Arlington and attended Mansfield high school where she became the first high school basketball player to win four state championships. She currently holds the Big 12 assist record. NFL wide receiver Mark Clayton, now with the St. Louis Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
, graduated from Sam Houston High School in 2000 and was part of the University of Oklahoma's 2001 national championship team. Jared Connaughton
Jared Connaughton
-Biography:He was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The son of Susan and Neal Connaughton and resident of New Haven, Prince Edward Island...
, sprinter for the 2008 Canada olympic team, was a sprinter for the UT Arlington team.
Entertainment
Arlington is home to Six Flags Over TexasSix Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Over Texas is a major amusement park located in Arlington, Texas , east of Fort Worth and about west of Dallas. It is the oldest park of the Six Flags chain. The park opened on August 5, 1961 following just a year of construction and an initial investment of US$10 million by real estate...
, a nation-wide theme park that includes many notable attractions. Six Flags
Six Flags
Six Flags Entertainment Corp. is the world's largest amusement park corporation based on quantity of properties and the fifth most popular in terms of attendance. The company maintains 14 properties located throughout North America, including theme parks, thrill parks, water parks and family...
also opened Hurricane Harbor, a waterpark, after the previous location, Wet 'n Wild, was sold to them in the mid 90's.
With the relocation of the U.S. Bowling Congress, and the Bowling Proprietors Association of America and the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, Arlington became the world headquarters for bowling.
The brothers Vinnie Paul Abbott
Vinnie Paul
Vincent Paul Abbott, also known as "Vinnie Paul" is a heavy metal drummer and producer who is currently a member of supergroup Hellyeah, but is best known for being a member, and co-founder, of the heavy metal band Pantera...
and Darrell Abbott
Dimebag Darrell
Darrell Lance Abbott , also known as Diamond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell, was an American guitarist. He was best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan. Abbott also contributed to the album Rebel Meets Rebel, a collaboration between Pantera and David Allan Coe...
are the two most notable musicians from Arlington who formed the metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
group Pantera
Pantera
Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...
. Ever since Darrell died on December 8, 2004 friends, family, and the community participate in the Ride For Dime event every year on August 20, Darrell's birthday. This attraction includes music, a ride by his cemetery, and booze.
For retail shopping, Arlington is home to The Parks Mall at Arlington, which houses numerous retail outlets and a movie theatre. In addition, The Arlington Highlands was completed in mid-2007, serving as an entertainment hotspot with places such as Studio Movie Grill, Piranha Killer Sushi, BJ's Brewhouse, The Improv Theatre, Blackfinn, Plucker's, World Market and Dave and Busters, among others. The Arlington Highlands is located on I-20 at Matlock Rd.
Arlington is also home to Theatre Arlington
Theatre Arlington
Theatre Arlington is a theatre in Arlington, Texas. It was established in 1973 with the goal of providing the city with a professional live theater. The once small theatre has since become a large 199 seat building providing entertainment and education...
, one of the largest community theatres in the nation which produces quality live theatre year round and offers theater classes for all ages.
Levitt Pavilion opened in 2009 and offers 50 free concerts per year in Downtown, Arlington
On July 4, the Arlington 4th Of July Parade Association puts on the annual parade through Downtown, Arlington featuring floats and entries from local school, businesses, and organizations. The parade is broadcast on local stations as well as on via AISD TV.
Transportation
Arlington Municipal AirportArlington Municipal Airport (Texas)
Arlington Municipal Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles south of the central business district of Arlington, a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. The airport is at the intersection of Interstate 20 and South Collins Road...
is located in Arlington.
Arlington is the largest city in the United States not served by a comprehensive public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
ation system. Voters have rejected a fixed-route bus transit system three times. However, Arlington has four transit systems targeting individual demographic groups. Handitran serves senior citizens and the disabled. Arlington hotels pay for a tourist-oriented shuttle bus system for their guests. The University of Texas at Arlington runs a shuttle service for college students. Lastly, Mission Arlington, an Arlington-run charity, has a bus system that circulates people needing various social services, as well as transportation to employment.
The city is served by two Interstate Highways,
I-20Interstate 20 in Texas
Interstate 20 in Texas is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, running east from a junction with Interstate 10 east of Kent, Texas, through the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to the border with Louisiana near Waskom, Texas...
, also known as Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
Memorial Highway, and
I-30, also named Tom LandryTom Landry
Thomas Wade "Tom" Landry was an American football player and coach. He is ranked as one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in National Football League history, creating many new formations and methods...
Memorial Highway. Other limited-access freeways include
State Highway 360, which is named for the founder of Six Flags Over TexasSix Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Over Texas is a major amusement park located in Arlington, Texas , east of Fort Worth and about west of Dallas. It is the oldest park of the Six Flags chain. The park opened on August 5, 1961 following just a year of construction and an initial investment of US$10 million by real estate...
, Angus G. Wynne
Angus G. Wynne
Angus Gilchrist Wynne, Jr. was a land developer, founder of Wynnewood Shopping Center and community development in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas. He also developed Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Over Georgia and Six Flags St. Louis theme parks in Texas, Georgia, and Missouri...
, running along the eastern border, and
U.S. Highway 287U.S. Route 287 in Texas
In the U.S. state of Texas, U.S. Highway 287 is a U.S. Highway that begins on the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur and heads north through Fort Worth, northwest to Childress, Clarendon, and Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle and into Oklahoma near Kerrick....
, which traverses the southwestern portion of the city. In most cases, the memorial names are not used in reference to these roadways.
The Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
now owns and operates the Texas and Pacific (later Missouri Pacific
Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , also known as the MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway , Texas and Pacific...
) route though Arlington.
Sister cities
Arlington and Germany Bad KönigshofenBad Königshofen
Bad Königshofen im Grabfeld is a small spa town in the Rhön-Grabfeld district, in the north east of Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany on the Franconian Saale a few kilometers from the border with Thuringia.Several smaller villages exist within the town limits:...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
have been sister cities since 1952. Arlington operates the Bad Königshofen outdoor family aquatic center, named after its sister city. In return, Bad Königshofen has a recreational park named after Arlington. The relationship between the two cities dates to 1951, when the German town manager, Kurt Zuhlke, visited Arlington as part of a study tour in the U.S.