La Grande Roche

La Grande Roche ("The Big Rock") is the French name given to a rock formation located along the Arkansas River in North Little Rock. The 300 foot high outcropping is said to have been named (originally "Le Rocher Français") by French explorer Jean-Baptise Bénard de la Harpe in 1722. De la Harpe was looking for a mountain or large rock in the region called the "Green Rock" by the Quapaw Indians and purportedly made of emerald. Instead he found and named the cliff now known as La Grande Roche.

La Grande Roche is made of volcanic blue and black trap stone. Large chunks of the rock formation have been quarried for use in building the City of Little Rock. Fort Roots and the North Little Rock Veterans Hospital are today located atop La Grande Roche.

References

• John Warner Barber and Henry Howe, Our Whole Country; Or, The Past and Present of the United States, Historical and Descriptive: In Two Volumes, Containing the General and Local Histories and Descriptions of Each of the States, Territories, Cities, and Towns of the Union: Also Biographical Sketches of Distinguished Persons ..., vol. 2 (H. Howe, 1861), 1326.
• Stephanie Simon, "Arkansas Capital Actually Has a Little Rock -- If You Can Find It," The Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2009.