Arlington has been called Shelby County’s best-kept secret and rightly so as it has remained a small quiet rural Town for two centuries. Despite its recent growth, the tranquility prevails in our neighborhoods while star-filled skies outshine street lamps.

Settlers came in the area in the 1830’s and many of their descendants still live in Town. Originally known as Haysville, the Town was named after the original landowner, Samuel Jackson Hays, a nephew of President Andrew Jackson. The area began to grow with the development of the Memphis and Ohio railroad and the creation of Withe Depot within its boundaries. By 1856, about two hundred people called Haysville home, but growth ceased with the onset of the Civil War as our native sons joined The Cause, many never to return. Another nearby disaster, the outbreak of Yellow Fever in Memphis in 1878, also contributed to the stagnant population as the Town fathers quarantined this area, forbidding outsiders from entering the Town.

In 1883, the name of the Town was changed to Arlington, a name suggested by Captain Henry Pitman. He had visited the national cemetery in Virginia and thought it was the most beautiful spot on the earth. Arlington is probably the only Town named for a cemetery!

The community received its charter from the State of Tennessee in December 1900, then with a population of slightly over 600. Like many small communities, Arlington suffered losses during the World Wars; the 1950 census shows only 465 residents, and the 1960 census lists 651. Arlington had 1,742 residents on its centennial. A special census conducted in early 2004 revealed that Arlington is currently home to over 5,000 people.

A real treat for the early citizens of Arlington was to board a westbound train for Memphis, sometimes becoming an overnight adventure in the big city. But, residents did not have a real need to visit the bigger city; the necessities of life could be found within its own Town square.