Little Rock
Little Rock is a city located in the territory of Arkansas. Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas and the largest city within the state. Little Rock is the center of Pulaski County. The city covers an area of 302.5 square kilometers.
Little Rock gets its name due to the small rock formation, which is located on the south bank of the river Arkansas. This formation has the French name Petite Roche, which translates to a small rock. This rock information for many years had been used as a guide for traveling along the river. The name was invented by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe, who was passing in 1721 on his way from the Mississippi Delta to the mountain Ouachita.
Thousands of years before the advent of Europeans in these parts, tribes lived there. On the territory, on which Little Rock is located today, lived the Folsom and people of the Mississippian culture. They buried their dead in special tombs, which in the sixteenth century were discovered by the expedition of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto.
On the territory of today's city Little Rock lived Cherokee Indians, Caddo and Quapaw. Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe built a trading post in the rock formation near Little Rock in 1722, near the village of the Quapaw Indians.
In 1812, trapper William Lewis built his house near the rock formation. In 1820, Robert Crittenden, and Chester Ashley concluded an agreement for joint legal practice, and this laid the foundations of the company's Rose Law, which is the oldest law firm west of the Mississippi River.
In 1821, Little Rock was chosen as the capital of Arkansas, which was formed in 1819. In 1831, Little Rock was officially recognized as a city. In 1836 Arkansas became the twenty-fifth state and Little Rock was officially recognized as the capital of the state. In 1861, Arkansas joined the Confederacy, and in 1863 the city was besieged by the forces of the Union. In 1864, David Owen Dodd was publicly hanged for allegedly being a spy for the Confederacy.
In 1911 the building of the state Capitol building was created. In 1916 a suburb of Little Rock - Pulaski Heights joined city and then Little Rock continued to grow. In 1958 Governor Faubus closes the doors of three schools in Little Rock for a whole year.
In 1968 was completed construction of the 114 meter Building of Worthen bank. Then the building of the United National Bank was built, which rises a hundred meters high. In 1974 the building was the First National Bank, which was then the tallest building in the city with its one hundred thirty-eight m height.
In 1986, it drops to second place after completing the construction of Capital Tower, which rises to one hundred sixty-seven meters above ground. Later the name of the tower was changed to TCBY, and in 2004 the name was again changed and it became known as Metropolitan Tower. In 2003 was launched the first marathon of Little Rock.
One thousand six hundred and fifteen athletes run the marathon distance of 42.19 km. In 2006, a pedestrian bridge opened, which is suitable for cyclists and is known as the Big Dam Bridge. It is 1065 meters above the Arkansas River.
