Dalworthington Gardens
Dalworthington Gardens, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Dalworthington Gardens grew directly out of Franklin Roosevelt's Depression-era faith in the "back-to-the-land" movement, authorized by the 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act's subsistence homestead program. After First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt saw promise in the Arlington area, a corporation was chartered in December 1933—its name stitched from Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington—and Civil Works Administration crews cleared 80 homestead sites. Despite early woes of missing gas and faulty plumbing, residents forged a tight-knit colony that incorporated as a town in 1949.
Why it matters
It survives as the only New Deal subsistence-homestead colony in Texas to endure as an autonomous community, a rare living relic of one of the era's boldest social experiments.
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Related people
- · Franklin D. Roosevelt
- · Eleanor Roosevelt
Themes & tags
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