W. T. Waggoner loved horse racing and is credited with being the main person to push for legalization of pari-mutuel betting on horses in Texas which was legalized in 1934. The year before, he was so sure that the law would pass, Waggoner started construction on a $2-million racetrack on property he owned in Arlington, Texas. He hired Clarkson, who had designed Waggoner's River Crest Home a few years earlier, to design both the large and the small grandstands, the Paddock, and the Club House for the race track. When completed, it became known as Arlington Downs, which was located between Dallas and Fort Worth approximately where Six Flags Over Texas and The Ballpark at Arlington are today. It officially opened only a few months after the passage of the bill. Unfortunately, W. T. Waggoner passed away from a stroke shortly after his racetrack opened. His sons, Guy and Paul, continued to operate the facility until 1937, when the law was repealed. E. Paul Wagoner built his Three D Stock Farm (his brand was 3 "DDD's" reversed, hence the name Three D) on the property, which became the headquarters for the estate's horse showing operation. The farm became the home of famous cutting horses such as Poco Bueno, Jesse James and Snipper W, and rope horse Pretty Buck. In my grandfather's job index, the job storage locations are Drawer 2 #500, 504, 508, and 523. The race track continued to host rodeos and horse shows into the late 1950's when it was torn down to make room for a new attraction, Six Flags Over Texas, and commercial interests. Unfortunately, like many Texas Historical markers, it does not list the architect.
Old Arlington High School
(now in use by the University of Texas at Arlington)
211 Cooper St.
Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church
(Now First United Methodist Church of Arlington)
313 N. Center Street
Clarkson had work listed as Centenary M. E. Church. The church office showed a couple of plaques that had dates that did not correspond with anything I could match to my grandfather from the very early 20th Century. The plaques were made from the corner stones of previous buildings. The church representative said the present sanctuary was built in 1948. That was in the time frame of Clarkson's work with several other churches and the style of the building is similar to other churches in that time frame. It is here as a possibly that he did for the church. I am working on getting some more info on this. The church building has been added to a number of times so nothing is for sure at the present time.
