Big Rock, Arkansas photo by Plainclothesman
QUESTION: I am fairly new to Little Rock. I have lived here for a couple of years now. My parents were visiting from Massachusetts and while driving along Rebsamen Park Road Dad pointed out what he called a gorge in the Arkansas River. We couldn’t quite see the river from where we were sitting (in my car) but because I wasn’t aware of a gorge on the Arkansas River as it passed through Little Rock, I asked him, Mom, my two brothers and sister to provide alternate explanations for what we saw. Now, what we saw was a rather large outcropping of rock that looked almost like a canyon wall on the North Little Rock side of the river. It’s stunning. What is it? Thanks Zeb.
SCUTTLEBUTT: According to Little Rock photographer, Brian Cormack the story goes something like this: “The Big Rock was noticed by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Bénard de La Harpe in 1722, who called the hill “Le Rocher Français” or “French Rock.” Le Harpe is also the guy who called a nearby smaller outcrop along the Arkansas River “little rock,” a name that stuck around….when the French explorers were sailing up the Arkansas River, Native Americans [Quapaws] told them of a massive green rock along the river…the explorers thought that it must be a massive jewel-encrusted rock…the large green rock they had been dreaming about was just a bluff with trees on it.”
Big Rock, Arkansas photo by Plainclothesman
SKINNY: Zeb, thank you for the question. I know the spot where you and your family were on Rebsamen Park Road. You were heading east past the Rebsamen Golf Course and just before Rebsamen becomes Riverfront Drive there it is that great wall of rock on the North Little Rock side of the river. To get a better look at this formation walk/run/bike the Arkansas River Trail. A work still in progress the 14 mile river trail loop hugs both sides of the Arkansas River connecting at the Big Dam Bridge and a vehicle free pedestrian bridge in downtown Little Rock/North Little Rock’s Riverfront Park. This great intown rock formation aka Big Rock or Big Rock Quarry is part of The Arkansas River Trail.
Here’s what our friends at the Encyclopedia of Arkansas tell us about Big Rock.
- The 200-foot bluff is the first major outcrop of rock along the river, 121 miles upstream from the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers and about two miles upstream from a smaller outcrop known as the Little Rock, where the capital city of Arkansas developed.
- The bluff is composed predominantly of sandstone and shale of the Jackfork Formation (Pennsylvanian period) and marks the transition from the Delta plains to the Ouachita Mountains. The top of the ridge is approximately half a mile wide (northwest to southwest), and the south face extends approximately one mile east-west along the river.”
- A quarry on the south face of the ridge was in operation in 1849. Rock continued to be mined for over a century, used mainly for railway ballast. An estimated 20,000,000 tons were removed in fifty years of mining by Big Rock Stone & Material Company.
This way to Emerald Park photo by Plainclothesman
CHECK THIS OUT: Emerald Park
Although no emeralds were ever found at Big Rock there is an Emerald Park. Emerald Park may have been created to pay homage to the myth but it sits atop Big Rock and provides some amazing views of the Arkansas River.
The Wiz
CHECK THIS OUT: The Wiz
Whenever the words “myth” and “emerald” are contained in a sentence I am reminded of that magical place called “Emerald City” in the hit movie, “The Wiz.” The 1978 musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz featured Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Lena Horne and a slew of other notables. It is a must see.
Officers Quarters Fort Roots by Penny Postcards Archives
CHECK THIS OUT: Fort Logan H. Roots sits atop the ridge that includes the infamous Big Rock. Now known as the North Little Rock Regional Office of the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System it is a site to behold. The drive up to Fort Roots winding up above Big rock is one of the scenic gems of Pulaski County. Virtually all the buildings on the campus are nationally recognized as historic places. It is open to the public and has a quiet almost wispy charm that hearken times long past.
Here’s what our friends at Wikipedia tell us about Fort Roots.
- It is was a former military base whose land was traded to the Federal Government in 1892 in exchange for the property now known as MacArthur Park, in Little Rock, which had been a military arsenal since the 1830’s before Arkansas was even a state. The base was named for Logan H. Roots who negotiated the deal.
- The Sixty-Sixth Congress of the United States transferred Fort Roots to the Public Health Service Department on March 4, 1921, for conversion to a Veteran’s Hospital for neuropsychiatric disorders.
- The Center now the Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Center provides long-term, rehabilitative care for eligible veterans.
CHECK THIS OUT: Little Rock Skyline taken from atop Fort Roots by Brian Cormack
Photographer Brian Cormack's Little Rock at Night taken from Fort Roots
Tags: Arkansas River, Big Rock, Brian Cormack, Diana Ross, Emerald City, Emerald Park, Fort Logan H. Roots, Jean-Baptiste Benard de La Harpe, Lena Horne, Mabel King, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, North Little Rock, Quapaws, Rebsamen Park Road, Riverfront Park, Ted Ross, The Wiz