Upper Arlington is a suburban city in Franklin County, Ohio, on the northwest side of the Columbus metropolitan area. The population was 33,686 at the 2000 census.

Upper Arlington was founded by the real estate developers Ben and King Thompson, who purchased most of the farmland that was to become Upper Arlington from James Miller in 1913. This land was directly adjacent to the Marble Cliff Quarry Co. They originally wanted to call it the "Country Club District" after the Country Club development in Kansas City, but by 1917, the community became known as "Upper Arlington," in reference to its southern neighbor of Arlington (now known as Marble Cliff). The Upper Arlington Company was incorporated that year and operated out of a field office built on the former Miller farm;

The development proceeded according to the Garden City-inspired plan by landscape architect William Pitkin, Jr., which called for curving streets copiously lined with trees rather than a gridded street layout. This development style gave the oldest district in Upper Arlington (at its southern-most end) its distinctively pleasant, park-like feel, though the lack of roadway predictability can lead to some frustrating driving experiences even for those familiar with the neighborhood.

Camp Willis, 1916In 1916, the development was interrupted (and largely undone) when the National Guard used the area as a temporary training camp called Camp Willis, after Ohio's governor at the time, Frank B. Willis. 8,000 servicemen were trained at Camp Willis and then dispatched against Pancho Villa on the Mexican border. The camp was dismantled by September of 1916. Development resumed shortly afterwards, and on June 17, 1918, Upper Arlington incorporated as a village, with a population of 20 and James Miller, the original landowner, serving as the first mayor. The Mallway business district, which was constructed in the 1920s, was the first deviation from Pitkin's plan. Upper Arlington became a city on February 8, 1941, and annexed surrounding land as its population grew.

One of the many historic homes in the Upper Arlington Historic DistrictAs was typical in many developing northern communities of the time, the Thompsons included restrictive covenants in their housing deeds that prevented African-Americans from purchasing homes in Upper Arlington (though the deeds were careful to point out that "colored servants" could still be employed). The effects of this practice have carried through to the present demographics of Upper Arlington, still almost exclusively populated by whites.

The post-World War II housing boom led to the development of many new housing tracts north of Lane Avenue. The newer developments took on a much different character from the older core of the city, being mostly organized along normal street grids, and with the usually ranch-style houses being smaller and of more economical construction than the historic stone and brick mini-mansions to the south. Many Upper Arlington residents sometimes refer to section of this area of Upper Arlington as "the golden ghetto", a joking reference to the comparatively lower quality yet still high property values. By the 1960s, as the city grew north, the houses were larger and the neighborhoods more consistent with the intent, if not style, of the original section south of Lane Avenue. The southern half of the city, designated as the "Upper Arlington Historic District" (though simply referred to as "Old Arlington"), was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Upper Arlington is the birthplace of professional golfer Jack Nicklaus.

Upper Arlington annually hosts a Fourth of July parade and fireworks display. The Labor Day Arts Festival at Northam Park and the annual Halloween festival at Tremont Elementary School are other notable community events. The City's Parks & Recreation Department hosts numerous events including the Winter Festival and Tree Lighting, Spring Fling, Summer Celebration and Fall Fest.

-courtesy of wikipedia.org