DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little room to breathe. Now, most Texas towns got their start from cattle trails, railroad stops, or some stubborn soul driving a stake into dry ground and calling it home. But Dalworthington Gardens — that name alone ought to stop you mid-sip — that city came into being because of a president, a first lady, a national crisis, and a piece of land sitting quietly south of Arkansas Lane near Arlington, waiting for its moment.
We're talkin' the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House, the country was on its knees, and Roosevelt was lookin' for ways to get people back on their feet.
One of his ideas was what they called the Back-to-the-Land movement — the notion that urban workers, folks who'd been ground up by city life and the collapse of industry, could find some dignity and sustenance by livin' on and cultivatin' rural property. Roosevelt signed the National Industrial Recovery Act into law in 1933, and tucked inside that legislation was authorization for something called a subsistence homestead program. Now, here's where the story takes a personal turn.
Eleanor Roosevelt — the First Lady herself — came visiting the Arlington area. And when she laid eyes on this particular stretch of land, she saw it. She saw the possibility.
She thought this right here could be the site for one of those homestead projects. So in December 1933, a corporation was formed for a state charter. They called it Dalworthington Gardens, Incorporated — a name that stitched together the nearby cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington.
Three cities, one name, one big hope. Early the next year, the federal government bought property south of Arkansas Lane near Arlington. And by June, workers from the Civil Works Administration arrived to clear the area — eighty development sites carved out of that land.
Eighty chances at something new. And not just anybody could apply. Only people from the Dallas or Fort Worth areas would qualify to live in Dalworthington Gardens.
It was a community built with intention, with a specific people in mind. By May of 1935, most of the construction was complete. But here's where the story gets honest — because if you move into a brand-new house on a grand New Deal dream, you might expect everything to work.
And it didn't. Applicants who moved in had to deal with a lack of gas, faulty water and sewage piping, and unfenced property. The dream had some rough edges.
More than a few, truth be told. But those residents — they didn't fold. They worked together.
They built something the federal government couldn't build for them: a tight-knit community. They established a community house that became the center of activity, the beating heart of the place. And then in 1949, those same residents petitioned to have the colony incorporated into a town.
They weren't just survivin' — they were staking a permanent claim. Today, Dalworthington Gardens sits surrounded on all sides by Arlington and Pantego, swallowed up by the sprawl and roar of the thriving Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. And yet — it remains.
The only subsistence homestead project existing as an autonomous community in the entire state of Texas. Eighty sites cleared by Depression-era workers, a first lady's eye for possibility, and neighbors who refused to let hard times be the last word. That community is still standing.
What the marker says
THE CITY OF DALWORTHINGTON GARDENS BEGAN AS A RESULT OF PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT’S DEPRESSION-ERA POLICIES. ROOSEVELT SUPPORTED THE “BACK-TO-THE-LAND” MOVEMENT, ENCOURAGING URBAN WORKERS TO LIVE ON AND CULTIVATE RURAL PROPERTY. ROOSEVELT SIGNED THE NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY ACT INTO LAW IN 1933; IT AUTHORIZED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SUBSISTENCE HOMESTEAD PROGRAM. WHILE VISITING THE ARLINGTON AREA, FIRST LADY ELEANOR ROOSEVELT SAW THIS AREA AS A POSSIBLE SITE FOR THE HOMESTEAD PROJECT. IN DECEMBER 1933, A CORPORATION WAS FORMED FOR A STATE CHARTER AND TITLED DALWORTHINGTON GARDENS, INC. (COMBINING THE NAMES OF NEARBY DALLAS, FORT WORTH, AND ARLINGTON). EARLY THE NEXT YEAR, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BOUGHT PROPERTY SOUTH OF ARKANSAS LANE NEAR ARLINGTON. BY JUNE, CIVIL WORKS ADMINISTRATION WORKERS ARRIVED TO CLEAR THE AREA FOR 80 DEVELOPMENT SITES. ONLY PEOPLE FROM THE DALLAS OR FORT WORTH AREAS WOULD QUALIFY TO LIVE IN DALWORTHINGTON GARDENS. BY MAY 1935, MOST OF THE CONSTRUCTION WAS COMPLETE. HOWEVER, APPLICANTS THAT MOVED INTO THE HOMES HAD TO DEAL WITH MANY ISSUES, INCLUDING LACK OF GAS, FAULTY WATER AND SEWAGE PIPING, AND UNFENCED PROPERTY. RESIDENTS, HOWEVER, WORKED TOGETHER TO BUILD A TIGHT-KNIT COMMUNITY. THEY SOON ESTABLISHED A COMMUNITY HOUSE THAT BECAME A CENTER OF ACTIVITY. IN 1949, RESIDENTS PETITIONED TO HAVE THE COLONY INCORPORATED INTO A TOWN. TODAY, THOUGH SURROUNDED BY ARLINGTON AND PANTEGO IN THE THRIVING DALLAS-FORT WORTH METROPLEX, DALWORTHINGTON GARDENS REMAINS THE ONLY SUBSISTENCE HOMESTEAD PROJECT EXISTING AS AN AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY IN TEXAS.