Arlington has its own Park Cities. Who knew?

Here is the second-to-the-last paragraph of a rather convoluted story that appeared in the Metro section of Monday’s Dallas Morning News concerning liquor sales in Arlington and how it may affect the Texas Rangers’ ballpark:

"But (Arlington City Council member Sheri) Capehart said the city already has to deal with liquor stores. The cities of Dalworthington Gardens and Pantego — both completely surrounded by Arlington — already allow liquor stores."

I have lived in Dallas 45 years now and I had never heard of Dalworthington Gardens and Pantego until I read that story.

So I went to trusty Google maps and, whaddaya know, Dalworthington Gardens is a rather substantial chuck of real estate east of West Arlington that stretches from just north of I20 all the way to Pioneer Parkway on the north. Pantego is a noticeably less substantial chuck of real estate that goes from the northern border of Dalworthington Gardens up to West Park Row.

Then I checked out my good friends at Wikipedia. From there I learned Dalworthington Gardens was named as an amalgamation of its neighbors DALlas, Fort WORTH and ArlINGTON. Clever, eh? It was established in 1934 as "a subsistence homestead project during the Great Depression under the authority of the National Industrial Recovery Act … The purpose of the homestead program was to help families attain a better standard of living through a combination of part-time industrial employment and subsistence agriculture. Dalworthington Gardens was one of five such projects located in Texas and the only one still in existence today." The city’s total area is 1.8 miles and has a population of 2,186.

Pantego is 1 square miles with a population of 2,394, making it almost twice as dense as its southern neighbor. Originally incorporated in 1949, the town dissolved in February 1952 and re-incorporated on May 22, 1952. Whether it re-incoporated just so it could sell liquor to those thirsty folks in Arlington, I can’t say.

So there you have it — Dalworthington Gardens and Pantego — which has liquor stores that Arlington doesn’t and here endeth the lesson.