Arlington, Massachusetts
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Arlington is a town in eastern Massachusetts, six miles northwest of Boston, latitude 42 degrees 25 minutes north, longitude 71 degrees 09 minutes west. The population was 42,389 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Arlington is surrounded by Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Winchester, Lexington and Belmont.Arlington covers 3,517.5 acres (14 km²), or 5.5 square miles, of which 286.2 acres (1.2 km²) are covered by water. There are 210.52 acres (0.9 km²) of parkland.
Arlington ranges from 4 feet (1.2 m) above sea level (along Alewife Brook) to 377 feet (114.9 m) near Park Avenue and Eastern Avenue.
Arlington borders on the Mystic Lakes and Alewife Brook, and contains Spy Pond, the Arlington Reservoir, Mill Brook, and Hills Pond.
Name
The Town of Arlington was originally settled by European colonists in 1635 as a village within the boundary of Cambridge, Massachusetts under the name Menotomy, an Algonquian word, the meaning of which has been lost. Prior to changing the name to Arlington in 1867, the area, including part of what is now Belmont, was incorporated in 1807 as West Cambridge. In 1867 the name "Arlington" was chosen in honor of those buried in Arlington National Cemetery.The Massachusett tribe, part of the Algonquian group of Native Americans, lived around the Mystic Lakes and Alewife Brook. By the time Europeans arrived, the local Indians had been devastated by disease; also, the tribal chief, Nanepashemet, had been killed by a rival tribe in about 1618. Nanepashemet's widow, known to history only as "Squaw Sachem", sold the land of her tribe to the colonists for ten pounds, with provisions that she could remain on her homestead land around the Mystic Lakes and continue hunting and farming. She also was to be given a new winter coat of wool each year for the rest of her life. She is thought to have lived until about 1650.
Through the town also flows the stream called Mill Brook, which historically figured largely into Arlington's economy. In 1637 Captain George Cooke built the first mill in this area. Subsequently, seven mills were built along the stream, including the Old Schwamb Mill, which survives to this day. The Schwamb Mill has been a working mill since 1650, making it the longest working mill in the country.
History
Paul Revere's famous midnight ride to alert colonists took him through what is now known as Arlington. Later on that first day of the American Revolution, more blood was shed in Arlington than in the battles of Lexington and Concord combined. Minutemen from surrounding towns converged on Menotomy to ambush the British on their retreat from Concord and Lexington. All in all, 25 colonials were killed in Arlington (half of all Americans killed in the day's battle), as well as 40 British troops (more than half their fatalities).
The Jason Russell House is today a museum which remembers those twelve Americans, including Russell himself, who were killed in and around this pictured dwelling on April 19th, 1775. Bullet holes are visible in the interior walls to this day.
Demographics
Arlington currently has approximately 42,000 residents. Based on the U.S. censuses, Arlington's population has been declining by an average of 7% per decade since 1970. (1970: 52,720; 2000: 42,389).As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there were 42,389 people, 19,011 households, and 10,779 families residing in the town. The population density was 3,159.6/km² (8,179.6/mi²). There were 19,411 housing units at an average density of 1,446.8/km² (3,745.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 90.97% White, 1.70% African American, 0.13% Native American, 4.97% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races, and 1.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.86% of the population.
There were 19,011 households out of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.4% were married couples living together, 8.8% have a female householder with no husband present, 2.2% are unmarried partners, and 43.3% were non-families. 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the town the population was spread out with 18.4% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 36.0% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 86.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $64,344, and the median income for a family was $78,741. Males had a median income of $52,352 versus $40,445 for females. The per capita income for the town was $34,399. About 2.4% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.0% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Arlington's executive branch is comprised of an elected five-member Board of Selectmen. The day-to-day operations are handled by a Town Manager hired by the Board of Selectmen. The legislative branch is made up of 252 Town Meeting Members, elected from the 21 precincts. The Town of Arlington technically has enough citizens to become the City of Arlington, but will not do so, because they would lose their ability to hold Town Meetings. These meetings can often last for at least a month, being held two nights a week until the issues are settled.
Arlington is part of the 7th Massachusetts Congressional District, the 4th Middlesex State Senatorial District, and the 23rd and 26th Middlesex State Representative Districts.
Yes For Arlington
"Yes For Arlington" was a 2005 tax override campaign in which Arlington voters approved the assessment of six million additional dollars in property taxes to allow the continuation of critical town and school services. Local businessman David Walkinshaw led Yes For Arlington's efforts, and many officers of the campaign were respected local community leaders. Voters approved the referendum on June 11, 2005, slightly more than 2 years after a defeated override imperiled the town's schools and public services, and forced staff members to be laid off.Interesting facts
- Arlington's Robbins Library contains the oldest continuously operated free children's library in the country.
- "Uncle Sam" is based on, and named after, Samuel Wilson, born in Arlington on September 13, 1766.
- Arlington was once a thriving farming community and had its own lettuce that was quite popular.
- Arlington had a large ice industry on Spy Pond from the mid-1800s until the last ice house burned down in 1930; much of its ice was sent to the Caribbean and India by "Ice King" Frederic Tudor.
- The first spreadsheet, VisiCalc, was written in Arlington.
- The museum in the Jason Russell House contains a mastodon tusk, found in Spy Pond in the late 1950s by a fisherman who originally thought he had brought up a tree branch.
- Two feature films released in theatres nationwide have been shot partially in Arlington: The Out-of-Towners, starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn, and Once Around, starring Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter.
- Two widely recognized television shows have been filmed in Arlington. This Old House and Trading Spaces. Also a History Channel special "Bible Battles" has been filmed in Arlington.
- The only black Freemason Cemetery in the country, the Prince Hall Cemetery, is located in Arlington.
- Arlington is referenced in the movie The Verdict starring Paul Newman. South Boston's K Street takes the place of Arlington in the movie.
Sister cities
- Nagaokakyo, Kyoto, Japan
- Teocinte, El Salvador
Arlington residents of note
- Celtics Guard (1978-1983) Nate "Tiny" Archibald, former resident
- Sven Birkerts, essayist and literary critic (b. 1951)
- Michael Bowman, actor in Me, Myself and Irene
- John Q. A. Brackett, Massachusetts Governor
- Dane Cook, comedian
- Robert Creeley, poet (1926-2005)
- Cyrus E. Dallin, sculptor (1861-1944), best known for the Appeal to the Great Spirit sculpture in front of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (See picture)
- Olympia Dukakis, actress, Academy Award winner (b. 1931)
- Liam Ezekiel, Linebacker for the Buffalo Bills
- Bob Frankston, spreadsheet co-inventor
- Roy J. Glauber, 2005 Nobel Prize (for Physics) winner
- Dr. George F. Grant, the first black graduate of Harvard Dental School and inventor of a type of golf tee.
- Alan Hovhaness, composer (1911-2000)
- Richard Lennon, Roman Catholic bishop
- John A. Kelley, runner
- Ray Magliozzi, Car Talk co-host
- Herb Reed, founder/singer The Platters
- Ron Rivest, cryptographer (b. 1947)
- David "Chico" Ryan, bassist of Sha Na Na
- Francis Thompson, President of Moxie Co, son of Moxie inventor, funder of scholarships (to this day), namesake of Thompson Elementary School (18??-1939)
- John Townsend Trowbridge, writer (1827-1916)
- Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, singer/guitarist of Canned Heat
- Samuel Wilson ("Uncle Sam")
- Chris Smither, blues guitarist/singer
- Samuel Whittemore, elderly soldier in the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
External links
Town-wide- [Official town web site]
- [arlington-mass.com is a community website for Arlington]
- [The Advocate - Arlington's weekly newspaper]
- [Website of Paul Schlichtman, Arlington school committee member and Past President, Massachusetts Association of School Committees]
- [The Arlington List (mailing list for Arlington residents)]
- [Live From Arlington - News, information, and online community for residents and friends of Arlington, Mass.]
- [Webcast of magazine-format Arlington Cable Access TV show The Menotomy Journal]
- [Arlington LiveJournal Community]
- [A Virtual Tour of Arlington (World Famous since 2001)]
- [Cyrus Dallin Museum]
- [Minuteman Trail]
- [Mystic River and Lakes]
- [Arlington Reservoir]
- [Robbins Library]
- [Jason Russell House]
- [Old Schwamb Mill]
- [George A. Smith Museum]
- [The Menotomy Minute Men]
- [Friends of Arlington's Great Meadows]
- [VisiCalc's early history in Arlington]
- [Arlington Jewish Circle (informal association of Arlington residents interested in Jewish activities)]
- [Philharmonic Society of Arlington (community orchestra, chorale and chamber chorus)]
- [Mystic Valley Lodge A.F. & A.M.]
- [St. Athanasius, Greek Orthodox Church of Arlington]
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