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Arlington, Massachusetts vacations, Historical Tours and Arlington Travel Packages

Arlington, founded over 350 years ago, remains proud of its history, even as it has grown into a thoroughly modern community. The birthplace of Uncle Sam, the location of the first public children's library, and the site of most of the fighting when the British marched through it returning from the Old North Bridge at the start of the Revolutionary War, Arlington has preserved many of its historical buildings and even recreated its town common. Once a thriving agriculture and mill town, Arlington's excellent access to metropolitan Boston has made it a very desirable place to live.

History Highlights of Arlington
The Town of Arlington was originally settled in 1635 as a village under the name Menotomy. In 1807, the Town and a section of what is now Belmont were set off from Cambridge and incorporated as West Cambridge. In 1867, the name was changed to Arlington in honor of the heroes buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

Squaw Sachem: When the first settlers made an agreement in 1635 with Squaw Sachem, she reserved the right to maintain some land near the Mystic Lakes for her use and required as part payment, a new English (woolen) coat every year for as long as she lived. This area was called Menotomy, an Algonquian word.

Captain Cooke: Two years later, Captain George Cooke took advantage of the swift running water in Mill Brook by building the first mill in this area. Farmers from Cambridge, Woburn, Watertown, and Medford brought their grain to the mill to be ground into flour.

The First School: In 1688, Menotomy's 24 taxpayers petitioned for the right to build a school; an unusual request, because they did not have as yet a meetinghouse. The school, located at what is now the cemetery on Pleasant Street, was completed in 1693 and stood there for more than 100 years.

Battle of Menotomy (Patriots' Day): Arlington (then called Menotomy) played a prominent role on the first day of the American Revolution - April 19, 1775. Minutemen from surrounding towns converged on Menotomy to ambush the British on their retreat from Concord and Lexington. More than one-half of that fateful day's casualties were suffered in the short distance from Foot of the Rocks (at the intersection of Lowell Street and Massachusetts Avenue) to Spy Pond.

Uncle Sam: Uncle Sam was born in Menotomy. Samuel Wilson was almost nine years old when the Battle of Menotomy took place. He started a meat-packing business in Troy, N.Y., where he became known as Uncle Sam. People say that the U.S. stamped on boxes of meat for the U.S. Army during the War of 1812 stood for Uncle Sam.

Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston. The population was 42,389 at the 2000 census.

The Town of Arlington was originally settled by European colonists in 1635 as a village within the boundary of Cambridge, Massachusetts under the name Menotomy, an Algonquian word meaning "swift running water". A larger area, including land that was later to become the town of Belmont, and outwards to the shore of the Mystic River, which had previously been part of Charlestown, was incorporated on February 27, 1807 as West Cambridge. In 1867 the name "Arlington" was chosen in honor of those buried in Arlington National Cemetery; the name change took effect that April 30.

The Massachusett tribe, part of the Algonquian group of Native Americans, lived around the Mystic Lakes, the Mystic River and Alewife Brook. By the time Europeans arrived, the local Indians had been devastated by disease; also, the tribal chief, Nanepashemet, had been killed by a rival tribe in about 1618 . Nanepashemet's widow, known to history only as "Squaw Sachem", sold the land of her tribe to the colonists for ten pounds, with provisions that she and her tribe could remain on her homestead land around the Mystic Lakes and continue hunting and farming. She also was to be given a new winter coat of wool each year for the rest of her life. She is thought to have lived until about 1650 .
 
The Jason Russell House.Through the town also flows the stream called Mill Brook, which historically figured largely into Arlington's economy. In 1637 Captain George Cooke built the first mill in this area. Subsequently, seven mills were built along the stream, including the Old Schwamb Mill, which survives to this day. The Schwamb Mill has been a working mill since 1650, making it the longest working mill in the country.

Paul Revere's famous midnight ride to alert colonists took him through Menotomy,[1] now known as Arlington. Later on that first day of the American Revolution, more blood was shed in Menotomy than in the battles of Lexington and Concord combined. Minutemen from surrounding towns converged on Menotomy to ambush the British on their retreat from Concord and Lexington. All in all, 25 colonials were killed in Menotomy (half of all Americans killed in the day's battles), as well as 40 British troops (more than half their fatalities).
 
1852 Map of Boston area showing Arlington, then called West Cambridge. (The former Middlesex Canal is highlighted.)The Jason Russell House, a yellow colonial, is today a museum which remembers those twelve Americans, including Russell himself, who were killed in and around this pictured dwelling on April 19, 1775. Bullet holes are visible in the interior walls to this day.

In its early years, Arlington was a thriving farming community and had its own lettuce that was quite popular.[2]

Arlington had a large ice industry on Spy Pond from the mid-1800s until the last ice house burned down in 1930; much of its ice was sent to the Caribbean and India by "Ice King" Frederic Tudor.

In 1979, the first spreadsheet software program, VisiCalc, was developed by Bob Frankston and Dan Bricklin in the attic of the Arlington apartment rented by Bob Frankston.[3]

Arlington was the site of the accident which claimed the life of American cyclist Nicole Reinhart, a two-time Pan American Games winner. She was killed on September 17, 2000 when she was thrown from her bicycle during a cycling tournament.

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