By Michael Armanious and Jared Padgett
What makes Arlington a uniquely creative town today? It is a town in which history lives.
Arlington’s cultural identity begins with its Revolutionary past. The town sits on the route of the British retreat on April 19, 1775, and witnessed some of the day’s fiercest fighting, including the engagement at the Jason Russell House. Its deeper story also includes the region’s Native American history and the complex ways Indigenous peoples have been portrayed in American art. These layers of history continue to shape Arlington’s museums, public spaces, schools, music, and arts.