center was located on a 17-acre site and was developed by Bart and Frank Schoeneman who had also developed Eltroy Heights , Arlington Estates , Schoeneman Manor and Briarwood and Buena Vista additions , representing approximately 1,200 lots . Stores such as Western Auto , an A & P , Skillern Drug and C . R . Anthony Department Store began opening there in the summer of 1956 . Other shopping centers opening adjacent to residential developments included the Sylvan Heights Shopping Center , Hillcrest Park Shopping Center , Hollandale Shopping Center and Phillips Shopping Center . The opening of a large Sears , Roebuck and Company Store at 3403 East Abram ( east of the GM plant ) in 1955 also helped to shape retail development in east Arlington . 31
Arlington ’ s industrial prowess continued to grow throughout the rest of the decade . In April 1955 , the American Can Company announced that it would build a new container manufacturing plant in the city . The company purchased a nine-acre tract a quarter mile east of the GM plant at 2801 East Abram . The plant opened in September 1956 , employing approximately 170 people . It was projected that the annual payroll and employee benefits would pump $ 1,000,000 into the local economy and that it would produce nearly 300,000,000 cans for local food and beverage processors . Menasco Manufacturing Company broke ground for a plant four miles north of Arlington near Euless on September 30 , 1955 . Initially the company was expected to employ 500 , mostly from the immediate area . The company manufactured commercial aircraft landing gear . In 1957 , Air Reduction Sales Company , a producer of high purity oxygen and nitrogen , opened a plant employing approximately 40 people at 5401 Watson Road , north of the American Can Company ’ s plant and east of the GM plant . 32
Arlington ’ s attraction to industry became even more pronounced with the news that the Great Southwest Corporation planned to construct a 5,000 acre planned industrial complex on the Waggoner 3-D stock farm and Arlington Downs east of Arlington along the Turnpike . The Great Southwest Corporation ( GSC ) was formed by Dallas businessman Angus G . Wynne , Jr . and his uncle , Toddie , New York real estate mogul William Zeckendorf , members of the Rockefeller family , and Fort Worth investors , including Amon G . Carter , publisher of the Fort Worth Star- Telegram . The younger Wynne was the corporation ’ s president . Well-known architect I . M . Pei served as the consulting architect for the integrated facility but the bulk of the planning was done by the principals of the firm of Associated Architects and Land Planners ( architects Richard Colley , O ’ Neil Ford , A . B . Swank , Jr ., and S . B . Zisman , planner ). Architectural Forum called the complex “ the most comprehensive planned development for US industry to date .” It initially consisted of three “ communities .” Community No . 1 was north of the Toll Road and Community No . 2 was south of the Toll Road and contained the warehouse and terminal core . Community No . 3 was west of Highway 360 and was slated for later development . A fourth community was not owned by the corporation . Each community was to have its own community center with restaurants , hotels or motels , recreation facilities , drive-in shopping and services such as a clinic
31 Arlington Journal , September 30 , 1954 , October 2 , 1953 ; Freese and Nichols and Caldwell and
Caldwell , Arlington City Plan : Studies and Revisions , 1959 ( The City Planning and Zoning Commission , City of Arlington , Texas , 1959 ), 18 ; Arlington Journal , January 26 , 1951 , June 29 , 1951 , July 11 , 1952 , October 2 , 1953 , September 11 , 1955 , October 6 , 1955 , October 9 , 1955 , June 14 , 1956 , August 2 , 1956 , August 6 , 1956 , August 16 , 1956 and January 31 , 1957 , July 30 , 1959 . 32 Fort Worth Star-Telegram , morning edition , April 27 , 1955 , AR 406-7-7-113 “ Arlington 1955- ,” STCF ,
SCD , UTA ; “ American Can Co . in Production ,” Fort Worth Magazine 32 ( October 1956 ): 10-11 ; Arlington Journal September 15 , 1955 and January 26 , 1956 ; Fort Worth Star-Telegram , evening edition , December 2 , 1957 , AR 406-7-7-119 “ Arlington , General 1957 ,” STCF , SCD , UTA .
FINAL REPORT
ARLINGTON HISTORIC RESOURCES SURVEY UPDATE
SEPTEMBER 2007
17