West Fort Worth · Fort Worth ISD
Buying and selling a home in Arlington Heights, Fort Worth
Arlington Heights is a neighborhood within Fort Worth proper on the west side of the city, served by Fort Worth ISD. Its history runs back further than most people expect — developer H. B. Chamberlain assembled roughly 2,000 acres here in the 1890s, and the area's first chapter nearly ended before it began when the Ye Arlington Inn burned in 1894. The neighborhood filled in properly after World War I brought military personnel to Fort Worth.
The short version
Camp Bowie Boulevard runs through the neighborhood today, and the road itself carries the history. It was originally named Arlington Heights Boulevard, and in 1919 the Federation of Women's Clubs renamed it to commemorate Camp Bowie, the World War I training camp that stretched from River Crest Country Club south to Vickery Boulevard. The boulevard was paved with Thurber brick in 1927 and received a Texas Historical Marker in 1978.
Who Arlington Heights suits
Arlington Heights suits buyers who want to live in Fort Worth proper rather than commute in from outside, and who are drawn to a neighborhood with a long, documented history. The west-side location keeps you close to the rest of the city.
It also suits families who want Fort Worth ISD. As always, we confirm zoning on the specific address before you fall for a house — campus assignment within Fort Worth ISD varies, and assumptions are the expensive kind of mistake.
What the housing is like
Most of Arlington Heights was built between the 1920s and 1940s. You will see Tudor, Craftsman and traditional houses, usually with the original details still intact — distinctive rooflines, real craftsmanship, the kind of trim nobody mills any more. Streets are tree lined and the trees are mature, which changes how a block feels in August.
Plenty of these houses have been updated inside while keeping what makes them worth buying. The neighborhood sits just south of Camp Bowie Boulevard and immediately west of the Cultural District.
Schools
Arlington Heights is served by Fort Worth ISD. Zoned campuses include North Hi-Mount Elementary and Arlington Heights High School, which opened in 1922 with 715 students; the current building dates to 1937 and was designed by architect Preston Geren Sr.
Arlington Heights High School also serves the Como, Ridglea, Meadows West, Rivercrest and Westover Hills neighborhoods. As always, we confirm zoning for the exact address before you commit, because campus assignment within Fort Worth ISD can shift by street.
The commute
This is the rare Fort Worth neighborhood where the commute conversation is short, because you already live in Fort Worth. Downtown is minutes away. The Cultural District is next door, so the Kimbell, the Modern and the Amon Carter are a walk or a very short drive.
Camp Bowie Boulevard is the commercial spine of the neighborhood and carries most of what you need day to day — restaurants, shops, services. A good bit of the neighborhood is genuinely walkable, which is not something you can say about most of the places people compare it to.
Straight talk
The honest tradeoff
The housing stock is the reason to buy here and it is also the thing to go in clear eyed about. A house built in 1931 has 1931 bones. Foundations move in this clay. Plumbing, wiring and windows are the line items that surprise people, and an inspection on a house this age is not a formality — it is the whole negotiation. Budget for it before you fall in love, not after. Two other things worth knowing. Camp Bowie's brick is beautiful and it is still a brick road, so it drives like one. And campus assignment inside Fort Worth ISD varies by address, so confirm the zoning on the specific house rather than the neighborhood.
From Jenny
Jenny's take on Arlington Heights
I taught school before this, and what teaching does to you is make you suspicious of anything that only looks good from the hallway. Old houses are the same. A 1930s house in Arlington Heights can be the most charming thing you have walked into all year and still have a foundation that is trying to tell you something.
So I will ask you the boring questions early. What has actually been redone, and what has only been painted? When was the panel last touched? Are those the original windows, and do you genuinely want them to be? None of that is a reason to walk away. This is some of the best housing stock in Fort Worth and nobody is building it again. It just means the inspection is the negotiation, not a formality.
And because I work with 6th Ave Homes, I can walk the house with a designer or builder and tell you what the work really costs while you can still change your mind.
Call 469-933-8413
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