Arlington, Washington was founded in 1903 as a small lumber mill. With each passing day, the town grew in size–as did the output of trees in the abundant forests engulfing the surrounding area. The town continued to build up it’s infrastructure by adding hospitals, schools, markets, and a railroad system right in the heart of the town. With the railroad system in place, getting resources was easy and delivering them was even easier. These improvements allowed Arlington to gain a new nickname: the shingle capital of the world, due to its numerous shingle mills, lumber mills, and logging camps.

In today’s world, Arlington is a very accomplished city, having stuck to its old fashion ways yet adapting to keep up with the demands of the people of Arlington. Many buildings have been refurbished, such as the bowling alley. The alley–now called Rocket Alley—has been beautifully restored and refurbished into a bowling alley that still has an old fashion look and fell, which attracts many patrons. Some more prominent upgrades in the town include the new hospital, which was built approximately 5 years ago, and the new turf field at Arlington High School. Both of these have helped the community in big ways, allowing affordable and dependable health care to be available, and allowing athletes to be able to compete better and more safely with the new artificial turf. 

All of these improvements have helped make Arlington into the town it is today: A proud place full of people that are hard working and good hearted. When thinking of accomplishments, Arlington is the first thing I can think of with all that it has done, from starting from a lumber mill to becoming a prominent and prosperous city that can come together to tackle challenges such as the devastating Oso mudslide. With all of that, it makes sense why Arlington was selected as a semi-finalist in the ABC Greatest Communities in America contest. 

At the end of the day, Arlington stands tall and proud with all of the achievements and wonderful things that it has done to benefit the people of of the city, as well as those in the surrounding area.