Arlington is a town in

Middlesex County, Massachusetts Middlesex County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,632,002, making it the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England and the 22nd most populou ...

, United States. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census.

History

European colonists settled the Town of Arlington in 1635 as a village within the boundaries of

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, under the name Menotomy, an Algonquian word considered by some to mean "swift running water", though linguistic anthropologists dispute that translation. A larger area was incorporated on February 27, 1807, as West Cambridge, replacing Menotomy. This includes the town of Belmont, and outwards to the shore of the Mystic River, which had previously been part of Charlestown. The town was renamed Arlington on April 30, 1867, in honor of those buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

. The

Massachusett The Massachusett are a Native American tribe from the region in and around present-day Greater Boston in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name comes from the Massachusett language term for "At the Great Hill," referring to the Blue Hills ...

tribe lived around the Mystic Lakes, the Mystic River, and Alewife Brook. Chief

Nanepashemet Nanepashemet (died 1619) was a sachem and ''bashabe'' or great leader of the Pawtucket tribe, Pawtucket Confederation of Abenaki peoples in present-day New England before the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, Pilgrims. He was a leader of Native peopl ...

was killed by a rival tribe in about 1619, and Nanepashemet's widow "

Squaw Sachem of Mistick Squaw Sachem of Mistick (-1650 or 1667) a. k. a. "Massachusetts Queene" was a prominent leader of a Massachusett tribe who deeded large tracts of land in eastern Massachusetts to early colonial settlers. Squaw Sachem was the widow of Nanepashemet, ...

" became the acknowledged leader of the tribe. In 1639, she deeded the land of what was then Cambridge and Watertown to the colonists. She lived her last years on the west side of the Mystic Lakes near Medford, where she died sometime between 1650 and 1667. A stream called Mill Brook flows through the town, 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 still survives. The Schwamb Mill has been a working mill since 1650, making it the longest working mill in the country.

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, ...

's midnight ride to alert colonists took him through Menotomy, now known as Arlington. Later on that first day of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, more blood was shed in Menotomy than in the

battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...

combined.

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Min ...

from surrounding towns converged on Menotomy to ambush the British on their retreat from Concord and Lexington. Twenty-five Americans were killed in Menotomy, half of all Americans killed in the day's battles, as well as 40 British troops (more than half their fatalities). Arlington resident Cyrus Dallin would later create an iconic sculpture of the midnight rider; a version can be seen at the town's Cyrus Dallin Art Museum. The Jason Russell House is a museum which remembers those 12 Americans who were killed in and around this pictured dwelling on April 19, 1775. Bullet holes are visible in the interior walls to this day. In its early years, Arlington was 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-19th century 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. Arlington's population grew by over 90 percent during the 1920s. In 1979, the first spreadsheet software program

VisiCalc VisiCalc ("visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for the Apple II by VisiCorp on October 17, 1979. It is considered the killer application for the Apple II, turning the microco ...

was developed by

Bob Frankston Robert M. Frankston (born June 14, 1949) is an American software engineer and businessman who co-created, with Dan Bricklin, the VisiCalc spreadsheet program. Frankston is also the co-founder of Software Arts. Early life and education Frankst ...

and

Dan Bricklin Daniel Singer Bricklin (born July 16, 1951) is an American businessman and engineer who is the co-creator, with Bob Frankston, of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet program. He also founded Software Garden, Inc., of which he is currently president, ...

in the attic of the Arlington apartment rented by

Geography and infrastructure

Arlington covers 3,517.5

acres The acre ( ) is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, ...

(14 km²), or 5.5 square miles, of which 286.2 acres (1.2 km²), or 0.4 square miles, are covered by

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

. There are 210.52 acres (0.9 km²) of parkland. Elevation 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, Mystic River, and Alewife Brook. Within its borders are Spy Pond, the Arlington Reservoir, Mill Brook, and Hills Pond.

Neighborhoods

* Arlington Center * Arlington Heights, in the west * East Arlington, east of Franklin Street * Jason Heights * Arlmont Village * Morningside * North Union * Turkey Hill * Little Scotland * Brattle Sq. * Poets' Corner * Kelwyn Manor * Quincy Heights, a neighborhood in Arlington Heights

Zip Codes

* 02474: East Arlington, and most of the rest of the town north of the Minuteman Bikeway * 02476: Arlington Heights, and most of the rest of the town south of the Bikeway and west of Spy Pond

Adjacent municipalities

Arlington is located in eastern Massachusetts and is bordered by the cities of Medford to the northeast, Somerville to the east,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

to the southeast, and the towns of

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

to the north, Lexington to the west, and Belmont to the south.

Transportation

Several MBTA bus routes pass through the town. The Minuteman Bikeway also runs through the center of town, connecting residents by bike to Bedford, Lexington, the Alewife Red Line station and Boston. Route 2 is a limited access highway that runs along the southern border of Arlington with Belmont.

Demographics

Historically, since the World War One (1910s) and World War Two (1940s) era. Arlington is known for being mostly an Irish, Italian and Greek middle class community but in the last decades has become increasingly expensive and diverse, while still retaining its middle class style homes with a mixture of double/triple decker homes (multiple family styles homes) and (mostly smaller sized for single family homes) single family homes. At the 2020

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, there were 46,308 people living in 19,308 households in the town. The population density was 9,004.1 people per square mile. There were 19,974 housing units at an average density of as of the 2010 census. The racial makeup of the town as of the 2020 census was 75.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 3.3%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.1% Native American, 13.7% Asian and 6.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 5.0% of the population. There were 19,308 households with an average household size of 2.37 According to previous data, 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 2.0% had a male householder with no wife present, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.0% were non-families. 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Of the 46,308 people in the population, 6.5% were under the age of 5, 21.4% were under the age of 18, and 16% were 65 years and over. 53.3% of the population was female. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $125,701, up from $85,059 in 2010. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $69,007, up from $47,571 in 2010. About 4.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

Income

Data is from the 2009–2013 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.

Government

Arlington's

executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

consists of an elected five-member

select board The select board or board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms. Three is the most common num ...

. The day-to-day operations are handled by a town manager hired by the select board. The

legislative branch A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the authority, legal authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with th ...

is a representative town meeting, presided over by the town moderator, and is made up of 252 town meeting members. Twelve town meeting members are elected to staggered three year terms from each of the 21

precincts Precinct may refer to: * An electoral precinct * A police precinct * A religious precinct * A arcade (architecture)#shopping arcades, shopping arcade or shopping mall ** A Pedestrian zone Places * A neighborhood, in Australia * A unit of public ...

. Article LXXXIX section 8 of the Massachusetts Constitution permits towns with a population greater than 12,000 to adopt a city form of government. The town of Arlington meets the population requirement to become a city, but has not done so, in part because it would lose its ability to engage citizens in local government under the representative town meeting form of government. Annual town meetings begin in April on the first Monday after Patriots' Day, and are held two nights a week until all items on the town warrant are resolved, and generally last three to four weeks. In April 2021, Arlington voted to become the third municipality in the United States to recognize polyamorous domestic partnerships, following adjacent cities of Somerville and Cambridge.

Education

Public schools

Arlington has a public school system with ten schools. (seven elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school) The seven elementary schools (K–5) are Brackett, Bishop, Dallin, Hardy, Peirce, Stratton, and Thompson. There are also two middle schools, grade 6 at Gibbs, and grades 7–8 at Ottoson, and Arlington High School, which includes grades 9–12. In addition, Arlington is in the district served by the Minuteman Regional High School, located in Lexington, one of the top vocational-technical schools in Massachusetts.

Private and parochial schools

There are two Parochial schools,

Arlington Catholic High School Arlington Catholic High School (ACHS) is a coeducational Catholic high school in Arlington, Massachusetts. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and serves grades 9-12. History The members of St. Agnes Parish, a Catholic chur ...

, and an elementary/middle school, St. Agnes School, both affiliated with St. Agnes Parish. In addition, there are two secular elementary schools, Lesley Ellis and the Alivia Elementary School.

Supplementary schools

The , a supplementary school for Japanese people, has its weekday office in Arlington, while it holds classes at Medford High School in Medford.

Parks and historical sites

* The Old Schwamb Mill is the oldest continuously-operating mill site in the United States. Founded by the Schwambs, who immigrated to the U.S. from Germany, the mill currently produces and sells museum-quality, hand-turned wooden oval and circular frames, created much as they were in 1864. Named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, the mill-museum is operated by a nonprofit educational trust that maintains the mill's traditions. * Menotomy Rocks Park encompasses Hills Pond and has trails through the surrounding forested land. * Robbins Farm Park along Eastern Avenue includes a playground, ball fields, a basketball court and a commanding view of the Boston skyline. * Robbins Library contains the oldest continuously operated free children's library in the country. A sculpture of the Menotomy Hunter by Cyrus Dallin can be found in an adjacent park. * Spy Pond Park provides access to the northeastern shore of Spy Pond. * The Arlington Center Historic District, where the Robbins Library and Old Burying Ground are located, is listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. It also contains the Arlington Town Hall and the Robbins Memorial Flagstaff that contains four bronze figural sculptures, a detailed base and a finial figure of agriculture by Cyrus Dallin. * The Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum is a site dedicated to the artwork and sculpture of noted artist Cyrus E. Dallin. * The Great Meadow comprises both

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are Solubility, saturated for part or all of the growing season which prevents the growth of trees and brush. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of ...

swamp and forest right outside the border of Arlington. While the Great Meadow lies within the borders of Lexington, the park is owned and maintained by the Town of Arlington. * The House at 5 Willow Court * The Henry Swan House, built in 1888, is a historic house at 418 Massachusetts Avenue. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. * The Jason Russell House contains a museum that displays, among other items, a

mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...

tusk found in Spy Pond in the late 1950s by a

fisherman A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...

who originally thought he had brought up a tree branch. * The Minuteman Bikeway, a popular

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

built in 1992, passes through various Arlington neighborhoods, including Arlington Center. * The Prince Hall Mystic Cemetery, the only black

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

in the country. * The Uncle Sam Memorial Statue commemorates native son Samuel Wilson, who was perhaps the original

Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (with the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the United States, depicting the federal government of the United States, federal government or the country as a whole. Since the early 19th centu ...

. * The Water tower at Park Circle is an exact copy of the rotunda of the ancient Greek Arsinoeon of the Samothrace temple complex.

Regent Theatre

The Regent Theatre is a historic theater in downtown Arlington. It was built in 1916 for

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

acts and is still used for live performances as well as films. It was remodeled in 1926. The theatre, located at 7 Medford Street, has 500 seats. It hosts the Arlington International Film Festival. In 2024, the theater was sold to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

computer science professor David J. Malan.

Notable people

* Sven Birkerts (born 1951), essayist and literary critic * Paul Boudreau, former NFL offensive line coach for the St. Louis Rams * John Quincy Adams Brackett, Former Massachusetts Governor * William Stanley Braithwaite, writer, poet and literary critic. Won

Spingarn Medal The Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for an outstanding achievement by an African Americans, African American. The award was created in 1914 by Joel Elias Spingarn, ...

in 1918 * Joseph Buck, soccer player * Noel Buck, soccer player * Christopher Castellani, writer * Andrew Chaikin, space journalist and author of '' A Man on the Moon'', on which

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

based a miniseries * Haroutioun Hovanes Chakmakjian,

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

, Armenian scholar, and father of Alan Hovhaness * Pat Connaughton, Player for 2021

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Champion Milwaukee Bucks *

Dane Cook Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He is known for his use of observational comedy, observational, often blue comedy, vulgar, and sometimes black comedy, dark comedy. He released six comedy ...

, comedian & actor * Robert Creeley (1926–2005), poet * Greg Cronin, head coach for the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) * Cyrus E. Dallin (1861–1944), sculptor; best known for Boston's Equestrian Statue of Paul Revere, ''

Appeal to the Great Spirit ''Appeal to the Great Spirit'' is a 1908 equestrian statue by Cyrus Edwin Dallin, Cyrus Dallin, located in front of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It portrays a Native Americans in the United States, Native American on horseback facing skyward ...

'' sculpture in front of the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

and the Angel Maroni Sculpture atop the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a Temple (LDS Church), temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

Adio diBiccari Adio diBiccari (1914 – January 1, 2009) was an American sculptor. Career DiBiccari was born in Revere, Massachusetts, Revere to Italy, Italian immigrants, but grew up in East Boston and graduated from East Boston High School in 1932. He receiv ...

, sculptor * Joshua Eric Dodge,

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the state judicial system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In addition to hearing appeals of lower Wisconsin court decisions, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also ...

Olympia Dukakis Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, in some 60 films, and in approximately 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in the ...

(1931-2021), actress,

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

winner *

, co-inventor of Visicalc, the first electronic spreadsheet, at 231 Broadway *

Samuel Garman Samuel Walton Garman (June 5, 1843 – September 30, 1927), or "Garmann" as he sometimes styled himself, was an American naturalist and zoologist. He became noted as an ichthyologist and herpetologist. Biography Garman was born in Indiana Co ...

(1843–1927), explorer, ichthyologist, and herpetologist * Roy J. Glauber,

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winner (

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

), 2005 * Katy Grannan, photographer * George Franklin Grant, first black graduate of Harvard Dental School and inventor of a type of golf tee *

Maura Healey Maura Tracy Healey (born February 8, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 73rd governor of Massachusetts since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she served as Massachusetts Attorney Ge ...

, governor of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

* Deborah Henson-Conant,

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-nominated harpist * Susan Hilferty, costume designer, '' Wicked'' * Louise Homer (1871-1947), opera singer * Winslow Homer, painter (location is now in Belmont) * Alan Hovhaness (1911–2000), composer * Timothy Hutton, Actor, youngest winner of an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor * Anthony James (1942–2020), actor * John A. "Johnny" Kelley, Boston Marathon winner, 1935 and 1945, Olympian athlete * Richard Lennon,

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

* J. C. R. Licklider (1915–1990), computer scientist * Elaine J. McCarthy projection designer for Broadway and opera * William J. McCarthy, President of the

International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a diverse members ...

(IBT) * Eugene Francis McGurl, US Army Air Forces 95th Bomb Sq., 17th Bomb Grp

Navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...

who flew with Crew 5 in General

Jimmy Doolittle James Harold Doolittle (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American military general and aviation pioneer who received the Medal of Honor for his raid on Japan during World War II, known as the Doolittle Raid in his honor. He ma ...

's "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" raid in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

* Tom McNeeley, Jr., former

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

contender who challenged

Floyd Patterson Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in his ...

for the

title in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in 1961 * John Messuri, Princeton College hockey player * Eileen Myles, poet, novelist * Jordan Peterson,

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. Lived in Arlington between 1993 and 1998 while teaching at

* David Powers, former Special Assistant to US President John F. Kennedy *

Hilary Putnam Hilary Whitehall Putnam (; July 31, 1926 – March 13, 2016) was an American philosopher, mathematician, computer scientist, and figure in analytic philosophy in the second half of the 20th century. He contributed to the studies of philosophy of ...

(1926–2016), philosopher, mathematician and computer scientist, professor emeritus at Harvard * Warren Winn Rawson, market gardener and seed distributor * Herb Reed, vocalist and founding member of

The Platters The Platters are an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The act ...

* Miles Robinson, current professional soccer player for

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won o ...

* Dave "Chico" Ryan,

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

of Sha Na Na * Whitney Smith, vexillologist and designer of the

flag of Guyana The flag of Guyana, known as the Golden Arrowhead, has been the national flag of Guyana since May 1966, when the country became independent from the United Kingdom. It was designed by Whitney Smith, an American vexillologist (though originall ...

* Chris Smither,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

guitarist/singer. * Bill Squires, American Track & Field Coach * Anthony Stacchi, scenarist ('' Open Season'') * Mark J. Sullivan, Director of the

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security tasked with conducting criminal investigations and providing protection to American political leaders, thei ...

* John Townsend Trowbridge (1827–1916), writer * Samuel Whittemore, elderly soldier in the Battle of Lexington and Concord * Alan Wilson (1943–1970), also known as Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson; singer, songwriter, leader of

Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American blues rock band that was formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The group has been noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and ...

* Samuel Wilson (1766–1854), meat-packer, namesake of "

" * Brianna Wu,

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

, primary victim of Gamergate controversy, congressional candidate * Tom Yewcic, former

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

with the Boston Patriots from 1961 to 1966, and former

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

; only person ever to play two professional sports at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

In popular culture

* Two feature films have been shot partially in Arlington: '' The Out-of-Towners'', starring Steve Martin and

Goldie Hawn Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, producer, dancer, and singer. She achieved stardom and acclaim for playing lighthearted comedic roles in film and television. In a career spanning six decades, she has received ...

, and '' Once Around'', starring

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss ( ; Dreyfus; born October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He emerged from the New Hollywood wave of American cinema, finding fame with a succession of leading man parts in the 1970s. He has received an Academy Award, a ...

and Holly Hunter. * Three widely recognized television shows have been filmed in Arlington: '' This Old House'', '' Trading Spaces'', and '' Made''. * A

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

special, ''Bible Battles'', was filmed in Arlington. * Arlington is referenced in the movie ''

The Verdict ''The Verdict'' is a 1982 American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by David Mamet, adapted from Barry Reed's 1980 novel of the same name. The film stars Paul Newman as a down-on-his-luck alcoholic lawyer in Boston who acc ...

'' starring

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

. South Boston's K Street takes the place of Arlington in the movie. * The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Sing" by The Dresden Dolls was shot at the Regent Theatre in Arlington Center. * The Steve Katsos Show is filmed at ACMi Studios in Arlington Heights. * Arlington's Little League baseball team won the Massachusetts State Little League championship in 1971.

Sister cities

Teosinte ''Zea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Poaceae, grass family. The best-known species is ''Z. mays'' (variously called maize, corn, or Indian corn), one of the most important crops for human societies throughout much of the world. The four ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

* Nagaokakyo, Kyoto,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

References

External links

Official town web site

Visit Town of Arlington MA website
* *
Arlington
on the NPR program '' Weekend America'', December 22, 2007 {{authority control 1635 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Towns in Massachusetts Towns in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Populated places established in 1635