Downtown Arlington Urban Progress
From 1908 to 2026
The City of Arlington is celebrating its founding 150 years ago. About 10 years ago I came into possession of a panoramic photograph of downtown Arlington in 1908 by the label on the print. The photograph is centered on the intersection of S. Center Street and South Street. The main view is looking northwest but it pans from southwest to northeast. The camera appeared to be about 40-50 feet above the ground level. The street names have been added by hand at some time to assist anyone with the location they are looking at. For this article, I have broken the panoramic photograph into three separate views. Let’s make some comparisons to the present-day urban fabric.
In this portion of the original photograph, we are looking at the intersection of Pecan Street and South Street. The streets are mainly hard packed dirt. There are no real sidewalks just foot paths running along wooden fences. The houses are all lumber framed with wood (or asbestos) siding. There are electrical poles along most every street. In this view you can see at least two church buildings and a few industrial style buildings. On the far-left side you can see the very first two-story building on the campus of then Carlisle Military Academy (CMA). For more historical photos see note 2.
This recent 3D view from Google maps was taken from the same location as the 1908 photograph. The First Baptist Church on the southwest corner of Center and South Streets has now replaced numerous houses and an industrial building. The UT Arlington bookstore has replaced the original location of the First Baptist Church. The single CMA building has been replaced by numerous UT Arlington parking lots, parking structures and educational buildings. All the streets are now paved and curbed. Most electrical poles were eliminated by underground services.
This recent photograph from the roof is very near to the elevation of the original 1908 version.
This portion of the original photograph shows South Street in the left foreground. The next street to the north of it would be Abram Street. The white church in the center of the photograph is the Presbyterian Church at 200 W. Abram Street based on my research. The area to the north of this church has many trees planted along several streets. It may have been a community park or similar. The large, roofed buildings on the lower right of the photograph appear to be a lumber yard. The black pole-like device to the left may have been an industrial building chimney stack. For more historical photos see note 2.
This recent 3D view from Google maps was taken from the same location as the 1908 photograph. The Presbyterian Church relocated farther east later in the 20th Century. The former location is now a vacant lot owned by First Baptist Church. The lumber yard lot is now occupied by the Levitt Pavillion Concert Venue and Founders Plaza Garden. The former tree-lined community park is now a City Hall parking lot. The area to the north of the Levitt is now a modern urban plaza used for concert and festival-style events.
This recent photograph from the roof is very near to the elevation of the original 1908 version.
This portion of the original photograph shows Center Street in the center of the composition. It shows the Abram Street and Main Street intersections. The Luttrell Bros Grocery Store on the northwest corner is a brick two-story building with a covered walkway. The upper floor is most likely a storage and/ or office area for the ground floor retail store. At the Center and Main Streets intersection southeast corner there is also a two-story brick building that is the Citizens National Bank. In the middle of the intersection is a large elaborate water fountain for horses (people also most likely). Notice that most of the people in the photograph are either walking or riding in a horse drawn wagon. There are many wagons that appear to have farm products which they have brought to sell at a market. There is only a single early automobile near the main street fountain. Beyond Main Street is a railroad track for the Texas & Pacific Railroad (T&P RR). For more historical photos see note 2.
This recent 3D view from Google maps was taken from the same location as the 1908 photograph. The former Luttrell Grocery store is the Arlington City Hall now. The new Arlington Central Library is just north of this. The T&P RR is still located in the same travel corridor. As of late, there are quite a lot of new commercial developments in this area. The former bank location on the east side of Center Street is now a 6-story mixed-use development. The new bank location now exists on the Center Street and Abram Street intersection’s southeast corner. Center and Abram Streets are now well-articulated boulevards with decorative lighting, street furniture, concrete pavers and abundant landscaping.
I love to look at old historical photos like this. It gives me a deep perspective on several things.
When you compare the “then” to the “now” it allows your mind to see how far we have come in many areas of life. In this small comparison you can see growth not only in terms of the size of the city, but also the quality of the urban environment. After 118 years we now have concrete streets & walks, storm drainage, concert venues, lovely city parks, streetlights, high quality durable buildings, a world class university and a more diverse economy. Developing and modernizing our cities leads to a higher quality of life for people in the community. This applies to all cities, not just Arlington. I would conclude that City Planners, Architects. Landscape Architects, Building Officials and Engineers work hard every day to make our lives better. To them I say, Thank You!!
Note 1: Image used courtesy of the J.D. Dunlop Photograph Collection, University of Texas at Arlington Special Collections & Archives
Note 2: A Link to other Arlington Historical Photos is:
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/specialcollections_jwdunlopphotograph/index.html
Kenneth Kilpatrick
You said the UTA book store is where the original FBCA was located. Did you mean the location just prior to the 1947 location? It was on the corner behind (south) of the old Post Office. Kenneth