Little rock
| Little rock | |
|---|---|
| Nickname : Rocktown, The Rock, Capital City | |
 Little Rock skyline |
|
 seal |
 flag |
| Location in county and Arkansas | |
 |
|
| Basic data | |
| Foundation : | 1821 |
| State : | United States |
| State : | Arkansas |
| County : | Pulaski County |
| Coordinates : | 34 ° 45 ′ N , 92 ° 17 ′ W |
| Time zone : | Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 ) |
|
Inhabitants : - Metropolitan Area : |
198,541 (as of 2016) 734,622 (as of 2016) |
| Population density : | 659.7 inhabitants per km 2 |
| Area : | 302.55 km 2 (approx. 117 mi 2 ) of which 300.97 km 2 (approx. 116 mi 2 ) is land |
| Height : | 102 m |
| Postcodes : | 72201-72219, 72221-72223, 72225, 72227, 72231, 72260, 72295 |
| Area code : | +1 501 |
| FIPS : | 05-41000 |
| GNIS ID : | 0083350 |
| Website : | www.littlerock.org |
| Mayor : | Mark Stodola |
 Satellite image |
|
Little Rock is the capital of the US state Arkansas with almost 200,000 inhabitants (as of 2016, US Census Bureau ). It is the administrative seat of Pulaski County on the Arkansas River and the core city of the Little Rock metropolitan area . The House of Parliament in Little Rock is a smaller copy of the US Capitol in Washington, DC
geography
Little Rock is on the south bank of the Arkansas River . Its tributaries Fourche Creek and Rock Creek also flow through the city. The western part of the city is in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains . To the northwest of the city are Pinnacle Mountain and Lake Maumelle , which provides the city with drinking water. North of the Arkansas River is the city of North Little Rock .
Rivers of the city
- Arkansas River
- Crooked Creek
- Fourche Creek
- Jimerson Creek
- Little Maumelle River
- McHenry Creek
- Owen Creek
- Panther Branch
- Payne Branch
- Rock Creek
history
Prehistory and founding of the city
The story of Little Rock begins with the construction of a trading post by the French explorer Bernard de la Harpe in 1722. The name comes from a small rock formation on the south bank of the Arkansas River , at the foot of which the station was built. De la Harpe called the formation La Petite Roche (in German: the little stone , English: little rock ). The Quapaw Indians also lived in the area at the time. In 1812, William Lewis, a fur hunter , built his house next to Little Rock, the beginning of the Little Rock settlement. Little Rock was mapped in 1820. In 1821 Little Rock received the status of the capital of the Arkansas Territory , which had only been established two years earlier. Little Rock only received town charter ten years later.
Development in the 19th century
In 1833 the Territorial Capitol (now the Old State House) was built, which was finally completed in 1842 and used as the State Capitol until 1911. In 1836 Arkansas was officially made the 25th state and Little Rock the capital of the same. After Arkansas joined the Confederacy (the so-called Confederate States ) in 1861, Little Rock was occupied by Union troops (mainly states from the north of the USA) during the Civil War of 1863 . In 1874 the Brooks-Baxter War took place in and around Little Rock. On January 26, 1880, General Douglas MacArthur was born in the Little Rock Barracks . His birthplace is now a museum ( MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History ). In 1881 the legislature decided "arkansaw" as the official pronunciation of the state name.
20th century
In 1911, today's State Capitol building was completed. When it joined Pulaski Heights , one of the first suburbs of Little Rock, in 1916, the city began growing westward. In 1957 and 1958 there was significant race rioting in Little Rock. Nine African American students, known as the Little Rock Nine , claimed their basic right to attend Little Rock's Central High School in 1957 . The National Guard blocked the teens from enrolling in high school on their first attempt. After violent clashes between whites and blacks, the federal government deployed the army to calm the situation. As a result of the unrest, all three public high schools in Little Rock were closed for one year by Governor Orval Faubus the following year .
In 1978, at the age of 32 , Bill Clinton was elected the youngest governor of Arkansas and 14 years later he was the first Arkansas politician to be elected President of the United States. The opening of a National Park Service visitor center was celebrated to mark the 40th anniversary of the Central High Crisis (Little Rock Nine) .
21st century
In 2004, the William J. Clinton Presidential Center opened in Little Rock in the presence of George W. Bush , George HW Bush and Jimmy Carter .
On March 27, 2014, at least six people died in a tornado in Little Rock. In addition, several houses over 50 kilometers were destroyed by the tornado lane in the center of the village . 16 people died in Pulaski County , Arkansas .
Five structures in Little Rock have National Historic Landmark status , including the Old State House . 232 buildings and sites in the city are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) (as of October 31, 2018).
Origins of the city and various facts
| Population development | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Residents | ± in% | |
| 1850 | 2167 | - | |
| 1860 | 3727 | 72% | |
| 1870 | 12,380 | 232.2% | |
| 1880 | 13,138 | 6.1% | |
| 1890 | 25,874 | 96.9% | |
| 1900 | 38,307 | 48.1% | |
| 1910 | 45,941 | 19.9% | |
| 1920 | 65,142 | 41.8% | |
| 1930 | 81,679 | 25.4% | |
| 1940 | 88.039 | 7.8% | |
| 1950 | 102.213 | 16.1% | |
| 1960 | 107,813 | 5.5% | |
| 1970 | 132,483 | 22.9% | |
| 1980 | 159.151 | 20.1% | |
| 1990 | 175,795 | 10.5% | |
| 2000 | 183.133 | 4.2% | |
| 2010 | 193,524 | 5.7% | |
| 1850-2010 | |||
Many objects have been found that suggest that indigenous peoples inhabited central Arkansas thousands of years before the European settlers. These indigenous people could include the Folsom , Bluff Dwellers , Mound Builders , Caddo , Quapaws , Osage , Choctaw, and Cherokee peoples, among others . Arkansas was untouched by Europeans until the Spaniard Hernando de Soto traveled through the area in 1541 .
La Petite Roche , as the rock on which Little Rock was founded, was called by the French, marks the transition from the flat Lower Mississippi Delta region to the Ouachita Mountains .
The city of North Little Rock was once the 8th borough of Little Rock. A decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court on February 6, 1904 allowed the borough to merge with the surrounding village of North Little Rock. The village was initially renamed Argenta, but the name change was reversed in 1917.
The company Federal Express was founded in 1971 by Frederick W. Smith founded in Little Rock, moved its headquarters but already two years later to Memphis , Tennessee , as the officials of the Little Rock National Airport wanted to put the company's airline no infrastructure. The company is known today as FedEx Corporation.
According to a 2009 Forbes list , Little Rock is one of the ten most dangerous cities in the United States.
History of the Little Rock Nine
On the evening of September 2, 1957 , Orval Faubus , governor of Arkansas, deployed members of the National Guard under his command in front of Little Rock Central High School to deny nine black students entry to school for the start of school the following day and angry white citizens at bay to keep. In the days that followed, the group that later became known as Little Rock Nine failed to attend school . On September 24, President Dwight D. Eisenhower finally dispatched 1,000 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division to enable the children to attend school.
At this point, the United States Supreme Court had banned racial segregation in schools five years ago.
The Little Rock Nine were honored 40 years later by US President Bill Clinton for their courage in asserting their rights.
economy
Little Rock is the headquarters of several major corporations, such as Alltel , Acxiom and Dillard’s . The largest bank in the state of Arkansas, Bank OZK , is headquartered in the city. Other companies include Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, Metropolitan National Bank, Rose Law Firm , Stephens Inc., and Nuvell Financial Services (part of GMAC ). Little Rock was also the former headquarters of FedEx , Jacuzzi and TCBY .
The so-called non-profit organizations include the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now , Heifer International , Lions World Services for the Blind, William J. Clinton Foundation , Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and Winrock International.
The main employers in Little Rock are Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield , Entergy , Raytheon , The Sharper Image , Siemens and Timex .
One of the largest public employers in the state of Arkansas, with nearly 9,000 employees, is the UAMS (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) and its departments ( Arkansas Children's Hospital and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System). Together they have a total economic impact in Arkansas of over $ 4.1 billion a year. The UAMS covers only 11% of its costs from state funds; most of the money comes from clinic fees (64%), other contracts and grants (18%), donations (5%) and tuition fees (2%).
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is also providing economic impetus . Little Rock also the also the University of Arkansas System is connected Clinton School of Public Service , where a master's degree of Public Administration (Public Service) can be purchased.
Two other, smaller private universities are Philander Smith College and Arkansas Baptist College , both of which have been attended predominantly by African Americans in the past.
traffic
Street
Little Rock has very good connections to the various highways (Interstate, Highway). These include US Highway 65 , US 67 , US 167 , Interstate 30 , Interstate 40 , Interstate 430 , Interstate 440 , Interstate 530 , Interstate 630 .
Flight, train, bus
Little Rock also has a national airport, Little Rock National Airport . The airport is served by nine major airlines and has connections to 18 other airports in the USA. In addition to the airport, there are also connections to the railroad ( Amtrak ) and the Greyhound intercity bus route .
Public transportation
Within the city, residents can use the Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA) public transport. This includes buses and, since November 2004, a tram ( River Rail Electric Streetcar ). As is so often the case in rural areas of the USA, however, the system cannot be compared with European standards. Local transport is mainly used by elderly and low-income people or by tourists.
Sports
The city has several sports clubs such as the Arkansas Travelers (minor league baseball team), the Arkansas RiverBlades (minor league hockey team).
Culture
The Arkansas Arts Center has a particularly extensive collection of drawings.
climate
| Little rock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate diagram | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Little Rock
Source: wetterkontor.de
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Meteorological data for the Greater Little Rock area
monthly average temperatures
monthly average precipitation
Humidity
Wind speeds
Average snowfall
Average Sunshine Percentage (Day)
Personalities
sons and daughters of the town
Honorary citizen
- 1992: Hubert Maessen (1947–2015), Dutch political scientist and author
- 1993: Edita Tahiri (* 1956), Kosovar politician
Personalities related to the city
- Albert Pike (1809–1891), lawyer, brigadier general, journalist, author and Freemason; he taught and wrote a series of articles for the Arkansas Advocate in Little Rock under the pseudonym Casca
- Thomas James Churchill (1824–1905), politician and major general in the Confederate Army; died in Little Rock
- James Smith McDonnell (1899–1980), aircraft designer and businessman; grew up in Little Rock
- Bill Dickey (1907-1993), baseball player; died in Little Rock
- Dee Brown (1908-2002), writer and historian; grew up Little Rock
- Al Hibbler (1915-2001), pop and rhythm and blues singer; went to school in Little Rock
- Sam Walton (1918-1992), entrepreneur; died in Little Rock
- Helen Gurley Brown (1922–2012), editor and author; lived in Little Rock
- Andrew Joseph McDonald (1923-2014), Roman Catholic Bishop of Little Rock (1972-2000)
- Gazi Yaşargil (* 1925), Turkish medic and neurosurgeon; Professor of Neurosurgery at Little Rock University College of Medicine
- Jerry Jones (* 1942), owner of the Dallas Cowboys, an American football team in the National Football League; grew up in Little Rock and attended high school here
- Wesley Clark (born 1944), retired general D .; grew up in Little Rock
- Bill Clinton (born 1946), President of the United States; worked as a lawyer in Little Rock from 1981. In November 2004, the William J. Clinton Presidential Center & Park opened in Little Rock .
- Hillary Clinton (born 1947), politician; worked as a lawyer in Little Rock from 1981
- James Peter Sartain (* 1952), Roman Catholic Bishop of Little Rock (2000–2006)
- Anthony Basil Taylor (* 1954), Roman Catholic Bishop of Little Rock (since 2008 )
- E. Lynn Harris (1955-2009), author; grew up in Little Rock
- Bill Hicks (1961-1994), comedian; lived and died in Little Rock
- Amy Lee (* 1981), singer, pianist and songwriter; lived in Little Rock
impressions
Little Rock, Central High School
Central High School, entrance hall
town hall
Web links
- City website
- CNN: "Clinton to hold door for 'Little Rock Nine'"
- taz: "Always throw back a rope"
- German-language report on the unrest surrounding the "Little Rock Nine" on September 25, 1957. Produced for the United States Information Agency , which forwarded the report to radio stations in West Germany and Austria. The United States Information Agency was a United States information agency founded by President Eisenhower in 1953. From today's perspective, the text of the report itself appears to be racist in part, but was certainly not intended that way from the point of view of the US government at the time. Inclusion in the online archive of the Austrian Media Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ QuickFacts on census.org
- ↑ USA Today : Twisters kill at least 16 in Arkansas
- ↑ List of NHL by State . National Park Service , accessed October 31, 2018.
- ↑ Search mask database in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed October 31, 2018.
- ^ Extract from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas . Retrieved May 28, 2013
- ↑ Forbes List: Most Dangerous Cities in the United States