We enter the city greeted with a mural that features an enormous red wagon loaded with landmarks — the Simmons Tower, the Junction Bridge, the state Capitol, Esse purse museum , One Union National, the River Market, a trolley. If you look closely at the wagon handle, you will notice bear pedaling a bicycle, a subtle reminder that Arkansas was first known as the Bear State.
Since I am on a roll with capital cities let’s see how Little Rock stacks up:
The neo-classical structure was completed in 1915 and was the 2nd capitol site of Little Rock. The Capitol was built on the site of the state penitentiary and prisoners helped construct the building.
Inside you will see the official state seal which consists of:
- eagle at the bottom, holding a scroll in its beak inscribed Regnat Populus, which is Latin for “the people rule.”
- bundle of arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other;
- a shield covering the breast of the eagle, engraved with a steamboat at the top, a beehive and plow in the middle, and a sheaf of wheat at the bottom;
- the Goddess of Liberty at the top, holding a wreath in her right hand, a pole in the left hand, surmounted by a liberty cap,
- surrounded by a circle of stars outside of which is a circle of rays;
- the figure of an angel on the left, inscribed “mercy;”
- sword on the right hand, inscribed “justice”
Governor’s Mansion is a beautiful historic building spread over 8 acres of land in the Quapaw District of Little Rock, an area that comprises some of the city’s oldest buildings, including some that date from before the Civil War. The name Quapaw honors the Quapaw Indians who lived in the area centuries ago.
Two different buildings compose the Pulaski County Courthouse: a Romanesque Revival building from 1889 and a Beaux Arts annex structure from 1914.
One of the sites Little Rock is most famous for is the Little Rock Central High School. In 1957, Little Rock Central High School was the epicenter of confrontation to enforce African American civil rights following Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education. Nine new African-American attempted to enroll but the Governor of Arkansas tried to block their entry. He was thwarted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower who sent in federal troops to escort the Little Rock Nine into the school to enforce the federal mandate.
Onto commercial buildings, The Beal-Burrow Dry Goods Building was built in 1920. The building was used for clothing manufacturing and as a warehouse for dry goods wholesaler Beal-Burrow Dry Goods Company. In the 1955 the building was bought by wholesale drug distribution company, Archer Drug Company which used the building for warehouse operations. Today its commercial space on the first floor and loft apartments on upper floors.
Vestiges of Beal-Burrow remain like the ghost sign on the side of the building spelling “Beal Burrows Dry Goods Co Wholesale” and tiles like below:
The Galloway Building was built in 1912 as the new building for the Arkansas Carpet and Furniture Company. Today it houses the Arkansas Repertory Theatre commonly called “the Rep”.
Albert Pike Hotel was constructed in 1929 which is ironically the last gasp of the roaring 20s just before the onset of the Great Depression. Designed in the Spanish Revival style, the hotel contained 175 guest rooms and was one of the most prominent hotels in Arkansas for decades. Today its rent-subsidized apartments primarily to the elderly.
The Albert Pike Masonic Center is the headquarters for the Masonic fraternity in Arkansas. In 2014, after 90 years of being veiled in mystery and virtually unknown to the general public, it was opened up to the entire State of Arkansas to rent for weddings, fundraisers, non-profit organizations, the performing arts as well as many other usages.
At this point you may ask who is Albert Pike? Pike not only was a high-ranking Masonic official but he was also a racist Confederate Civil War general who defended slavery. There was a statue of him outside the Washington capitol and it was the only one in the city to honor a Confederate. During the protests following the death of George Floyd the statue was toppled.
The brick building below has served as the headquarters and clubhouse for three prominent social and charitable groups since 1910. Built by the Elks Club, later owned by the Woman’s City Club, and now by the Junior League of Little Rock, the building remains true to its original design.
The building below which is now the site of the Arkansas Times was first built in 1916. I was not able to find any history of the building but an inscription reveals “Central Supply Company” above one of the doorways
Union Life Building was built 1911–1917 it represented Union Life Insurance Company. Inscribed on the building is Centre Place and seems to be law offices lately.
A rather out of place monument is the Songham Martial Art Gate next to the Statehouse Convention Center. It was built to honor Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee, who founded the American Taekwondo Association (ATA). Grand Master Lee loved the State of Arkansas and the City of Little Rock, making this the home of ATA International Headquarters. The rolling hills of tall, green pines and gorgeous lakes reminded him of South Korea.
A really hopping part of Little Rock is the River Market area. You will find two pavilions that host the Farmers’ Market and offer a setting for entertainment, special events, and cultural activities.
Here is a view of it from the front side, it houses the Ottenheimer food hall which consists of stalls of food vendors dishing up diverse cuisine.
Across the street from it you have the Central Arkansas Library System. It resides in the renovated Fones building, constructed in 1920 as a warehouse for Fones Bros. Hardware.
So many historic buildings abound on this block!!
Geyer & Adams Building from 1914 was wholesale grocery business.
For the next exhibit you could only make out from the ground tiles what it used to be. Rosenbaum Machinery Co. sold engines, boilers and mill supplies and specialized in cotton ginning systems.
The tiles of the building occupied by this excellent coffee shop spell BEN-D-SHAAD. It was yet another company that sold heavy machinery and equipment such as saw mills, cotton gins, and gasoline and steam engines.
Right across from the River Market you have the Junction bridge a lift-span bridge crossing the Arkansas River between downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock. One of six bridges linking the two downtowns, the Junction Bridge was originally constructed as a railroad bridge in 1884; it was rebuilt in 1970, then converted to serve as a pedestrian bridge in 2008.
The Broadway Bridge (Highway 70) that connects Little Rock and North Little Rock is officially named the Veterans Memorial Bridge. The original Broadway Bridge was built in 1922 and was dedicated to veterans of World War I in 1923. After 90 years, it was closed and demolished, and a new bridge was built in 2017.
These two bridges among others are part of the network of the Arkansas River Trail which is a 16-mile loop between the Big Dam Bridge and the downtowns of Little Rock and North Little Rock starting on either side of the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge.
The Big Dam bridge completed in 2006 lays claim as the nation’s longest bridge built for bicyclists and pedestrians. It was built into a dam (as opposed to on top of a dam) and spans 0.8 miles.
Speaking of the Arkansas River, it is fascinating to see how it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas and and then forms a tributary of the Mississippi River. Major cities along the route include Pueblo CO, Wichita KS and Tulsa OK.
As for North Little Rock, I did not spend much time in the community but did come across the Argenta Drug Company. It was built in 1887 and is known as the oldest continuously operating pharmacy west of the Mississippi River.
There is an interesting history to North Little Rock. It started off as a terminal for ferry travel across the river. A settlement within it sprung and took on the name of Argenta because silver was discovered from mines north of it. In the early 1860s, the first railroad was built in the area and by the late 1870s, Argenta was a major railroad crossing in the region. Argenta prospered as an unincorporated town of mills, factories, hotels and saloons. With growth came crime so town decided to incorporate as a city. At the same time the City of Little Rock wanted to annex the community but was met with opposition but eventually in 1904 North Little Rock became a city in its own right and included the Argenta community.
That’s it in a nutshell. I definitely enjoyed visiting Little Rock. If you ever find yourself in town I recommend the following establishments:
Restaurants:
- Root cafe (soma District)
- Flying Fish
- Soul Fish Cafe
- Lost Forty Brewing (East Village)
Coffee:
- Nexus Coffee
- Mylo Coffee Co (Hillcrest)
- Fidel & co Coffee Roasters (East Village)
