Pantego, TX

Pantego is immediately southwest of downtown Arlington and ten miles southeast of downtown Fort Worth in eastern Tarrant County. Settlers started moving into the vicinity by the time of the Civil War, and the Texas and Pacific Railway had built through the area before 1876. In 1884 Frederick Foscue, a local resident, offered an acre of land for a church and school, with the stipulation that the community name its school Pantego in honor of a trusted Indian friend he had once employed. The Pantego Community Church was established in 1903, and postal service for the settlement was established in 1905. In 1917 the school was destroyed by a cyclone, but the county provided funds to rebuild it. Electric service was begun to the farming community in 1936. In 1949 Pantego was incorporated as a municipality and held its first city elections, after which the city of Arlington withdrew police and fire-fighting services. That year Pantego had a population of 350 and four businesses. In 1952 the town was reincorporated as a village, and by 1956 it had an estimated 646 residents. Its estimated population was 1,168 in 1972 and 2,024 in 1980. The town's growth paralleled that of the surrounding metropolitan area. By 1989 Pantego was surrounded by the city of Arlington and was predominantly a residential community, with some 338 light industry, shopping, and service businesses. In 1989 its population was estimated at 2,650, and in 1990 it was 2,371. In 2000 the population was 2,318.