Monday, September 22, 2008

Downtown Showdown, a Photo Series: Arlington

By Laura Evans

A metroplex is more than just the sum of its parts. Or is it? To dive into the true character of Dallas/Fort Worth, here we present the second segment in a photo series featuring the down towns, old(e) towns and city centers that feed into Dallas/Fort Worth. Each city brings its own character that, together, make D/FW such a special place to live. So keep an eye out for us, we will hit your neighborhood downtown soon. The metroplex, however, is a very large place. To tell its story through only two pairs of eyes (mine and staff photographer Laura Seewoester) wouldn't do it justice. If you have photos of your area city center, send them to our Flickr group and tag them Downtown Your City's Name and we will feature them in the segment on your city.

Believe it or not, but Arlington was once the town to visit for community and commerce in the early 1900's; downtown even had a racetrack that drew visitors from other neighboring cities. Pretty cool, eh? Now Arlington is known to most as a commuter town, with citizens working and playing in Fort Worth and Dallas while raising their families in Arlington. You'd think with all that commuting they'd have established some kind of public transportation system. (I'm not bitter at all).

The downtown area is mostly home to city government buildings, with a few public and private buildings here and there, such as the library and the Arlington Museum of Art. Plans are in the works, however, to draw more attraction to the center of town. Currently under construction and scheduled to open in October is the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts, located across the street from the City Hall, where free, outdoor performances will take place. To see other plans for the area check out The Downtown Arlington Management Corporation site.

Nicknames: A-Town, Agg Town, Fun Central.

Note: The first image is a photo gallery with all the images, so you can either click through the gallery or scroll. I stuck to Main and Abrams street for this project.

Photo by Laura Evans

Bridge on West & Main

Photo by Laura Evans

The Mike Thompson Central Fire Station

Photo by Laura Evans

"Life is good" sign outside the antique store in the Jones Building.

Photo by Laura Evans

Abandoned house on Main Street.

Photo by Laura Evans

Detail of the abandoned house.

Photo by Laura Evans

JPS Health Center sign

Photo by Laura Evans

Parking lot and train tracks

Photo by Laura Evans

Van's Shoe Service

Photo by Laura Evans

Parking lot in between the UTA Accounting & Business Services building and Theatre Arlington.

Photo by Laura Evans

Arlington Museum of Art

Photo by Laura Evans

Construction site for the Levitt Pavillion on Abrams Street.

Photo by Laura Evans

Theatre Arlington building

Photo by Laura Evans

Arlington City Hall

flickr user analogkid281

The sun was setting so I decided to get a quick snapshot of the sign with it lit up but the area still lit up from the sun. Located near Division on Center Street in Arlington Texas. Here is a link about the histoy of the Vandergriff Building that is across the street from this theater, but at the bottom of this page is a picture of this location. The sign and everything looks the same. It says that the picture is around 1947 and shows opening night. www.vandergriffbuilding.com/history.htm

Photo by flickr user analogkid281

Sits on Division Street near Collins in Arlington Tx. It is an old old old place that has an indoor pool in the middle of the building so the humidity issues are abound. I cannot believe some investor has not bought the property and razed the place for a nicer establishment.

flickr user analogkid281

This is near the corner of Division and Center St. It a recreation of the original mineral spring well that was in Arlington at the first of the last century. This is about 1 block away from the location of the first well which was at the corner of Main and Center streets.

Click here to see Downtown Fort Worth's photo gallery.

Does your city or suburb have an awesome downtown? Let us know, and we will make it out there for its very own Downtown Showdown. Next Time: Downtown Lewisville

Related stories

• Downtown Showdown, a Photo Series: Denton (Dec. 15, 2008)
• Downtown Showdown, a Photo Series: Plano (Dec. 1, 2008)
• Downtown Showdown, a Photo Series: McKinney (Nov. 17, 2008)
• Downtown Showdown, a Photo Series: Carrollton (Nov. 3, 2008)
• Phase 1 of downtown Arlington project could be finished as early as June (Oct. 19, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Photography
• Local History

Comments

ch0 Anonymous

Right on.

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Joel Woiton Verified

You missed part of the charm of downtown Arlington. That's all of the small bars along Division Street. I've dropped in on a handful of these and my first impression is, "Who would go here?" But you will find that most have a group of regulars of 8-10 people. Kind of like the TV show Cheers.

They don't have liquor stores in Arlington, but you can go about anywhere and get liquor by the drink. That's one key thing that separates Arlington from the rest of the DFW suburbs.

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Scott Doyle Verified

Mayhaps take some photographicals of said Division Street bars and post them here?

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

jtmbls Anonymous

Eeeww - Bad juju! Division Street aka The Body Dump. Creepy!

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Laura Evans Staff

Hi Joel! Yeah, it's a bit tricky determining what the downtown area of Arlington encompasses, but we definitely welcome any user participation to get a full view of all of the downtown areas. Please submit any photos you might have to our flickr group. Thanks!

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

ch0 Anonymous

Division is seedy and eclectic. This pictorial encompasses more of the classic 'downtown' area just south. One thing I'd be interested to learn more about is the gambling and mob scene that was big back when the Arlington Downs racetrack was a big draw. I hear we were big sh!t before Hot Springs and Las Vegas came around. So much of our given history has been sanitized. Also, it seems what later became Aggtown was the first white settlement in the area, and the site of much Anglo/Native warfare. There's a lot of history here, and this Barnett Shale boom is giving us a chance to beautify the place some. Nice piece, Ms. Evans! I appreciate the work.

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )