Hillcrest Historic District

The Hillcrest Historic District of Little Rock, Arkansas, was added as a designated historic district on the National Register of Historical Places in 1990.

A group of Michigan developers purchased 800 acres of what would become the Hillcrest neighborhood in 1891. The land was described as oak grove-topped, cool, 350-foot "highlands." That same year Edgar E. Moss, who would later become a mayor of The Heights, built the first home in the neighborhood at 3820 Hill Road. (The home was bulldozed in 1959.)

In 1904 work was begun on Forest Park in the neighborhood, which eventually held a 1,500 seat auditorium, pavilion, zoo, carousel, and fun house. Child visitors to the park took free rides in goat carts or go skating. The park became the site of the Pulaski County Fair during World War I. In 1916 the fair departed for Fair Park, now known as War Memorial Park. In 1921 Forest Park was purchased by the White City amusement company which built a pool where the Heights Theater now stands. The pool was taken over by the Little Rock Recreation Commission in 1934 and remodeled. The pool was torn out in 1939.

The Catholic Little Rock College also once stood in the neighborhood, and is now known as St. Joseph's orphan asylum.

Annexation by Little Rock

Hillcrest became a part of the City of Little Rock in an annexation agreement in 1916. Today, the Hillcrest neighborhood supports a number of shops and restaurants, as well as the First Thursday Shop 'N' Sip gallery walk in the summer months. Local restaurants include Nu, So, Ferneau, and The Fountain.

References

• Jerry Dean, "In Early Days, Hillcrest was 'Way Out West,'" Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 15, 1989.