Arlington Historical Society

Arlington Historical Society: Connecting Past, Present, & Future

The Arlington Historical Society, originally called the Cemetery Society, was founded August 27, 1887, to promote, develop, and support the process of collecting and preserving documents, pictures, and historical information pertaining to the founding and growth of Arlington, Texas.

Today the Society remains dedicated to the preservation of local history while serving as caretaker of the historic Fielder House where we are headquartered, the Fielder Museum, the city's historic cemeteries, and the Knapp Heritage Park.

The Fielder Museum is located at 1616 W. Abram Street, Arlington, TX 76013, and is open 11AM to 3PM Tuesday through Saturday and other times by appointment. Admission is $5.00 for ages 12 and over, free for children under 12... LEARN MORE

Sign Up for Updates & Newsletters

Stay informed—get the AHS Newsletter right in your inbox.

AHS Events

Aug212025

TEXAS AUTHOR BOOK CLUB

Two Alone - Sandra Brown

The Texas Author Book Club is jointly sponsored by the Arlington Historical Society and the Arlington Public Library. Club coordinators are O. K. Carter (AHS) and Mark Dellenbaugh (APL). The club meets on third Thursdays, 6:30 PM, at the Fielder Museum. For questions/additional info, email texasauthorbookclub@gmail.com.

Sandra Brown, Arlington's most successful author, has been living her American dream as a #1 New York Times bestselling author of over 70 novels (and ober 70 million copies sold). In Two Alone, when their plane crashes in the remote reaches of the Northwest Territories, confident businesswoman Rusty Carlson finds herself hurt and alone with a man she can't stand to be around. Vietnam vet Cooper Landry holds a deep-rooted grudge against beautiful women, but he's survived far worse and he'll be damned if he lets them both die in the wilderness. The ex-soldier's training has prepared him with the skills to defend against the predators of the deep woods—both animal and human—but that's not all that awaits the couple. What Rusty and Cooper couldn't have expected is their shared desire for more than just survival.

WHAT	Texas Author Book Club
WHEN	August 21, 2025, 6:30 PM
WHERE	Fielder Museum, 1616 W. Abram St., Arlington, TX

Sep182025

TEXAS AUTHOR BOOK CLUB

Hard Scrabble - John Graves

Texas author Larry McMurtry said of Hard Scrabble: "If Goodbye to a River was in some sense Graves's Odyssey, this book is his [verion of Hesiod's] Works and Days. It is partly a book about work, partly a book about nature, but mostly a book about belonging. In the end John Graves has learned to belong to his patch of land so thoroughly that at moments he can sense in himself a unity with medieval peasants and Sumerian farmers, working with their fields by the Tigris."

Graves lived near Granbury, and it's easy to drive to the part of Texas he's writing about in just over an hour.

WHAT	Texas Author Book Club
WHEN	September 18, 2025, 6:30 PM
WHERE	Fielder Museum, 1616 W. Abram St., Arlington, TX

AHS Bulletins

Caddos, Cotton and Cowboys - 5th Edition Cover

Caddos, Cotton and Cowboys, 5th Ed. Now Available at Fielder Museum!

Our favorite Arlington author, our own O. K. Carter, has just released the 5th edition of his ever-popular book, Caddos, Cotton and Cowboys: Essays on Arlington, Texas. Copies are available for purchase at the Fielder Museum for $20.00 each.

Caddos, Cotton and Cowboys takes readers on a journey through one of the most intriguing communities in the country. Located midway between Dallas and Fort Worth, Arlington is home to the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Rangers baseball team, the original Six Flags Over Texas, and the sprawling University of Texas at Arlington. The journey begins with a besieged fort on the muddy banks of the Trinity River and follows Arlington as it transitions from a pioneer village to one of the nation’s most populous 50 cities. That 180-year journey includes big time gambling (some legal and some not), gangsters and gunfights, opportunistic capitalism, and a mix of shrewd, often lucky politics that transform the city—now with more than 400,000 people—to a sports, entertainment, and higher education Mecca.

AHS Venues

Fielder Museum

The historic Fielder Museum is home to the Arlington Historical Society and features themed exhibits and collections relating to the history and heritage of Arlington.

LEARN MORE

Knapp Heritage Park

Knapp Heritage Park is home to three of Arlington's oldest structures and serves as a public cultural and heritage facility. The Park is available for school tours, rentals, and more.

LEARN MORE

Arlington Heritage Memorial Grounds

The Arlington Heritage Memorial Grounds consists of three independently established cemeteries which serve as a monument to the history of Arlington and Tarrant County.

LEARN MORE

Recent AHS History Articles

The Lives of Lake Sophia

If she is labeled at all on today’s maps, she is labeled Calloway Lake. Many thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived, she was a mighty bend in a broader and wilder Trinity River, orphaned when...

READ ARTICLE

In Memoriam: Beloved UTA Professor, Philanthropist Allan Saxe (1939 - 2024)

Allan Saxe, a beloved University of Texas at Arlington professor and prolific philanthropist, died at age 85...

READ ARTICLE

Texas & Pacific Engine 642: Next Stop, Oblivion

The late-winter rains of 1885 had been heavy, and on March 15 rain continued to fall, putting Village Creek between Fort Worth and Arlington in a mood...

READ ARTICLE