Monday, September 22, 2008
Downtown Showdown, a Photo Series: Arlington
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.
Downtown Arlington
(Click photo to see entire gallery)
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.
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
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ch0 says:
Right on.
Anonymous
1 year, 2 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Joel Woiton says:
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.
Verified
1 year, 2 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Scott Doyle says:
Mayhaps take some photographicals of said Division Street bars and post them here?
Verified
1 year, 2 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
jtmbls says:
Eeeww - Bad juju! Division Street aka The Body Dump. Creepy!
Anonymous
1 year, 2 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Laura Evans says:
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 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/pegasusnews/">flickr group</a>. Thanks!
Staff
1 year, 2 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
ch0 says:
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.
Anonymous
1 year, 2 months agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
angiek says:
Might want to include a photo of the Watson Building. The architecture is common for Arlington of that time (1940s-50s). Watson's Department Store was an upscale establishment in the heart of downtown before it was purchased by UTA. Great piece! Thanks so much for featuring our great hometown!!
Anonymous
1 year, 1 month agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal