ARLINGTON, a township of Middlesex county in E. Massachusetts, U.S.A. Pop. (1890) 5629; (1900) 8603, of whom 2387 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 11,187. Area, 512 sq. m. It is served by the Boston & Maine railway. It has pleasant residential villages (Arlington, Arlington Heights, &c.) with attractive environs, and there is an excellent public library (the Robbins library). At Arlington Heights there are several well-known sanatoriums. Spy Pond (about 100 acres) is one of the prettiest bodies of water in the vicinity of Boston. Arlington is an important centre for market-gardening (in hot-houses), and along Mill Brook, in the township, are several factories, including chrome works, a large mill and a manufactory of pianoforte cases. In 1762 Arlington was made a “precinct” of Cambridge (of which it was a part from 1635 to 1807) under the name of Menotomy. In 1807 it became a separate township under the name (retained until 1867) of West Cambridge.
See B. and W. R. Cutter, History of the Town of Arlington . . . 1637–1879 (Boston, 1880); and C. S. Parker, The Town of Arlington, Past and Present (Arlington, 1907).