Arlington is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in western Phelps County,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, United States. The community is located just northeast of the confluence of Little Piney Creek and the Gasconade River. I-44 passes just to the east and the

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...

passes the south edge of the community. The community of

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

lies approximately three-quarters of a mile to the northwest across the Gasconade.

History

Arlington was originally called Little Piney. At times troops from the 5th Missouri State Militia Cavalry garrisoned there. Originally settled by Thomas Harrison and James Harrison and later established as a township by General Fremont ''circa'' 1867, the town was renamed for the former

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

plantation (later a

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 ...

) at

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

, Folk etymology maintains the name honors Arlie, the wife of a local merchant. Arlington was once a popular resort served by the

Pacific Railroad The Pacific Railroad (not to be confused with Union Pacific Railroad) was a railroad based in Missouri. It was a predecessor of both the Missouri Pacific Railroad and St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. The Pacific was chartered by Missouri in 184 ...

. Located on the last section of U.S. Route 66 in Missouri to be paved, in 1931, the tiny community served fishermen on the Gasconade and Little Piney Rivers. Stony Dell Resort capitalised on Route 66 and the nearby

Fort Leonard Wood Fort Leonard Wood is a United States Army, U.S. Army training installation located in the Missouri The Ozarks, Ozarks. The main gate is located on the southern boundary of the city of St. Robert, Missouri, St. Robert. The post was created in De ...

military base to grow in the 1930s and early 1940s from a small group of tourist cabins to a popular oasis which included a stream-fed swimming pool, a restaurant, service station and bus stop, offering tennis, dancing, boating and fishing. By 1946, the town was in decline due to re-routing of a widened US 66; the town site was purchased that year by R. E. Carney. The original 1923 US 66 road bridge, bypassed when the road was widened to four lanes in 1952, was demolished when

Interstate 44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, T ...

bypassed the town in 1966–1967, leaving the original two-lane US 66 a dead end. Most of the Stony Dell Resort was lost to demolition during freeway construction; the restaurant, archway, the fish pond, the gas, food, and gift store, some of the classic stone work, and a handful of cabins remain, now abandoned. Even the 1952 four lane bridge was demolished and replaced as part of a 2005 alignment of I-44. There are no remaining businesses in Arlington; the

caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel * Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop * Caravan (tra ...

(Arlington River Resort, 13003 Arlington Road) closed permanently in 2008. The only road access to the townsite is I-44 to Newburg then back on what remains of the original two-lane US 66 roadway (Arlington Outer Road, a dead-end). No longer easily accessed by rail and road, Arlington is now merely a small group of private residences. Arlington is currently composed of more than 20 people; albeit, it is no longer its own township and is now a part of Newburg.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Phelps County, Missouri Populated places established in 1867 Unincorporated communities in Missouri