Arlington, city in Tarrant County, northern Texas, on the Trinity River and Village Creek. The city is located between Dallas and Fort Worth. Products include motor vehicles, electronic components, aircraft, and semiconductors. Tourism is important to Arlington's economy, and the city is home to the River Legacy Living Science Center; a museum devoted to antique sewing machines; a large amusement park; and the Ballpark in Arlington, home of the Texas Rangers major league baseball team. The city is the site of a campus (established in 1895) of the University of Texas.
The city was founded in 1875 and is named for Arlington, Virginia. After the arrival of the railroad in 1876, it grew as a cotton-ginning and farming center, and incorporated in 1884. Large-scale industrialization began in 1954 with the arrival of a General Motors assembly plant. Automotive and aerospace development gave the city one of the nation's greatest population growth rates between 1950 and 1990.
