Park Hill
Park Hill is a historic neighborhood in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The area was originally billed as the "second Pulaski Heights" when it was developed in the 1920s.
Neighborhood leaders are currently trying to preserve a large root beer mug originally built by Frostop. Park Hill has been a dry enclave in North Little Rock since the 1950s.
Past and present neighborhood businesses and services
- Advantage 1
- AJ Monogramming
- Alexander's Salon
- Arkansas Lymphedema & Therapy Providers
- The Bridal Cottage
- Complete Chiropractic
- Crye-Leike Realtors
- Custom Designs Sewing
- Daylight Donuts
- Edward Jones Investments
- Elite Staffing
- Heartland Tax Service
- Jim Fore Real Estate
- North Little Rock Fire Station 5
- Whitfield's Food Market
References
- Kyle Brazzel, "Neighborhood Watch: Park Hill," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 6, 2008.
External links
Daylight Donuts
4030 JFK Blvd. (slightly outside of Park Hill)
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 753-7299
Edward Jones Investments
3420 JFK Blvd.
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 812-464
Jim Fore Real Estate
3126 JFK Blvd., Ste. A
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 758-0444
Fax: (501) 758-2155
Kelcro, Inc.
3320 JFK Blvd.
North Little Rock, AR 72116-8825
(501) 753-8721
Fax: (501) 753-3926
Merchant Bankcard Solutions, LLC
3508 JFK Blvd., Ste. 8
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 907-7474
Fax: (501) 907-7475
North Little Rock Adventure Boot Camp
PO BOX 95094
North Little Rock, AR 72190-5094
Phone: (501) 346-5444
North Little Rock Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
3001 JFK Blvd.
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 758-3095
Fax: (501) 753-5307
Padgett Business Services
3508 JFK Blvd., Ste. 5
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 812-6400
Fax: (501) 812-5080
Park Hill Florist
3724 JFK Blvd.
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 753-1128
Fax: (501) 753-3631
Park Hill Pet Clinic
2900 North Main St.
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501)758-7387
Pro Gym
3719 John F Kennedy Blvd
N Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 771-2021
Realty Title & Escrow Services, Inc.
3400 JFK Blvd., Ste. C
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 748-0808
Fax: (501) 748-0847
Red Door Gallery
3715 JFK Blvd.
North Little Rock, Ar 72116
(501) 753-5227
Fax: (501) 753-8605
SCHLOTZSKY'S
3421 John F. Kennedy Blvd. North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 758-2720
Shop Trio
3300 JFK Blvd.
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 753-8828
Fax: (501) 753-8868
Stanley Jewelers Gemologists, Inc.
3422 JFK Blvd.
North Little Rock, AR 72116-8827
(501) 753-1081
Fax: (501) 753-1110
Sue Smith Vacations
3806 JFK Blvd.
North Little Rock, AR 72116-0546
(501) 771-0987
Fax: (501) 771-0563
Time Plus Payroll
3508 JFK Blvd., Ste. 7
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 223-8352
Fax: (501) 225-6715
Park Hill Baptist Church
201 E C Ave
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 753-3413
Park Hill Christian Church
4400 John F Kennedy Blvd
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 753-1109
Park Hill Presbyterian Church
Pastor Gordon Garlington
3520 JFK Blvd.
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 753-9533
Fax: (501) 753-0325
St Luke's Episcopal Church
4106 John F Kennedy Blvd
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 753-4281
Trinity Lutheran Church
3802 N Olive St
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 753-6824
Community House of Worship list
Please Email with your business information if you are not listed.
info@HistoricParkHill.com
Craftsman
Craftsman Bungalows “cottage”
“California Bungalows”
(Period Revival Styles)
English Revival
Spanish Revival
Colonial Revival
Garrison Colonial
The Park Hill Historic District is historically significant to the city of North Little Rock, Arkansas, as that city’s first planned suburban development. Development of Park Hill is attributed to the inspira- tion of local businessman Justin Matthews, whose contributions to the city were instrumental to the growth of North Little Rock and the Greater Little Rock area. The architectural significance of the Park Hill Historic District is diverse, yet typical of two distinct periods of development --1922 to the early 1930s and the immediate post-World War II years. An eclectic mix of 1920s Craftsman Bunga- lows and picturesque Period Revival styles combine with the simplicity of 1940s Minimal Tradi- tional style housing to reflect distinct periods of intense growth in the neighborhood. The process by which Park Hill was platted and developed as an unincorporated area, and then in 1946 annexed to North Little Rock is typical of many early suburban developments throughout the United States.
Aside from a few farms and orchards, the earliest development in the neighborhood known as Park Hill was in 1922, when local businessman Justin Matthews acquired a large tract of heavily wooded property atop a steep hill about a mile north of the city limits of North Little Rock.
Development of Park Hill in 1922 was concurrent with suburban growth all across the United States, particularly with the larger capital city of Little Rock, just across the Arkansas River. However, North Little Rock had come a long way in keeping up with national growth, particularly in contemporaneous development with Little Rock. Although the city of Little Rock had been settled as early as 1819 and in 1821 was sizable enough that it was chosen as the capital city of Arkansas, the north bank of the Arkansas River had remained largely unsettled.
The land on the north side was far different from Little Rock in that it was, for the most part low-
lying and swampy. It was not until the first railroad line through Arkansas was constructed (the
Memphis-Little Rock) that the north side of the river began to develop. The north side had a number of attempted identities such as Huntersville, DeCantillon and Quapaw, but in 1871 fifty blocks were platted and incorporated as the “Town of Argenta” and a federal post office was established. The name Argenta came from a Latin derivative of the word meaning silver since silver had been “discovered” about ten miles north of the river. Argenta was a railroad town, built around and centered on the railroad industry. As the only Central Arkansas rail terminal, Argenta had a transient nature due to the constant activity surrounding the arrival and departure of trains. Restaurants, hotels and saloons developed to accommodate the numbers of travelers. Streets were unpaved and muddy much of the time and city services were minimal. Main Street, with its saloons, was “off limits” to soldiers stationed at nearby Fort Roots Army Post.
In December 1880, the Arkansas Gazette newspaper called for the residents of the north side to “get control of the lawless conditions.” Argenta applied to incorporate as a city of the First Class in 1890, but instead the government of Little Rock elected to annex the north side of the river. So in 1890, the town of Argenta Arkansas became the Eighth Ward of the City of Little Rock. By the turn of the century, residents of Little Rock’s Eighth Ward were ready to reclaim their town. As a result of some clever politics, a bill was manipulated through the Arkansas Legislature in 1903 called the Hoxie- Walnut Ridge Bill. This bill allowed for any city whose boundaries are contiguous to another to annex that city. Meanwhile on the north side of the river a city had been established and incorporated called North Little Rock. Its boundaries began just north of the Eighth Ward (Argenta) and extended to what is now 22nd Street. Less than a month after passage of the Walnut Ridge-Hoxie bill, the cityof North Little Rock applied to annex Little Rock’s Eighth Ward (formerly the Town of Argenta). Little Rock strongly objected to the annexation application and after many months of dispute the issue went to the Arkansas Supreme Court where it was upheld: North Little Rock could annex the Eighth Ward of Little Rock. In 1904 the City of North Little Rock annexed Argenta and once again the north side of the river was its own city.of North Little Rock applied to annex Little Rock’s Eighth Ward (formerly the Town of Argenta).
Little Rock strongly objected to the annexation application and after many months of dispute the issue went to the Arkansas Supreme Court where it was upheld: North Little Rock could annex the Eighth Ward of Little Rock. In 1904 the City of North Little Rock annexed Argenta and once again the north side of the river was its own city.
Because of the turmoil over this dispute, little growth was seen on the north side of the Arkansas
River until 1904. Businessmen and leaders of the united city in North Little Rock began to effect
unprecedented growth. Prohibition eliminated the problem saloon establishments in the downtown and the city emerged as a growing industrial center in Arkansas.
Justin Matthews. One of the many people who took interest in the booming growth of North Little Rock at this time was Justin Matthews. The son of a circuit judge, Justin Matthews was born in 1876 near Monticello in Southeast Arkansas. He was trained as a pharmacist over the strong objections of his father, who wanted him to study law. In 1901 Justin Matthews married Agnes Somers, who proudly traced her lineage to George Washington and had a sizable inheritance. At the age of 24, Matthews sold the three drug stores he had acquired near Monticello and moved with his new bride to Central Arkansas.
Matthews’ first venture in Central Arkansas was the organization and establishment of the Rose City Cotton Oil Mill, which was built near the eastern edge of North Little Rock in 1902. He was president of this company for many years. Matthews showed an interest in real estate and within a few years had accumulated a considerable amount of property on both sides of the Arkansas River. One of his many purchases of land included six lots on Main Street in Argenta (North Little Rock). In 1910 Matthews built a two-story brick building with basement and steam heat that covered an entire city block. Known as the “Matthews Block,” the construction of the building was the precursor for much growth in the business district on the city’s Main Street. A year later, in 1914, a new city administration building was constructed. Other substantial development in the city began in earnest at this time
In 1912 Justin Matthews turned his attention to public projects. The only thorough fares
that were surfaced in Argenta (North Little Rock) at that time were Main Street, running north and south, and Washington Avenue, running east from Main Street. Other thoroughfares in the city were so poorly drained that water stood on them for several days after each heavy rain. The unpaved streets were covered with a soil that was almost pure sand, making automobile traffic difficult as their tires dug into the loose sand.
Justin Matthews conceived a plan for street paving and drainage and in 1913 persuaded the Argenta (North Little Rock) City Council to establish two street-paving improvement districts. One of the improvement districts was to pave the streets running north and south and the other was to pave those running east and west and to install underground drainage tiles to relieve the flat sections of the city from surface water. The proposed paving would make the sandy street usable for all types of vehicular travel. Matthews is given credit for the difficult job of obtaining signatures of the majority of landowners on petitions presented to the city. In January 1913, the Argenta (North Little Rock) City Council established two improvement districts. Matthews was appointed to the Board of Commissioners, whose job was to oversee the projects. Street Paving District Nos. 15 and 16 laid 152 blocks of concrete pavement in the city in 1913. The street-paving project was especially controversial because the technology was fairly new. This endeavor has been recognized as the world’s first big concrete paving job, making Argenta (North Little Rock) the leader in the concrete pavement field. Much of the credit for this project is given to Justin Matthews, who as the organizer and a commissioner on both districts inspected construction with daily visits to the work site. An editorial in the North Little Rock Times in 1944 extolled the significance of the street paving stating.... “it lifted us out of the mud and water. A transformation of our city immediately began to take place...”cheap shacks gave way to modern, attractive homes and our community rapidly changed from a gloomy, dusty, muddy backward town into a beautiful modern city.” This 1944 Times editorial quoted from an article entitled “Every Community Needs a Justin Matthews” which had then recently been published in a “national construction publication.”
Mayor William Faucette then asked Matthews to plan a Sewer District for the city. Formed in 1914 with Justin Matthews appointed a commissioner, the sanitary and storm water sewer system district provided a citywide system of storm and sanitary lines that emptied into an eight-foot diameter main to the Arkansas River. This drainage system was essential to the growth of a city, which was largely below the high-water level.
Justin Matthews is also given credit for negotiating a contract with Merchants Lighting Co. (later Arkansas Power and Light Co.) in 1913. It was arranged for North Little Rock to purchase current from the Merchants Co. at a low rate to operate the North Little Rock-owned electric plant. This contract was worded so the successors and assigns of the Merchants Lighting Co. would be forever bound by the contract. A few years later, when Merchants Lighting Co. sold to Arkansas Power and Light Co., they tried to cancel the contract with North Little Rock. The issue was taken to court, but the contract was upheld and Arkansas Power and Light Co. was forced to continue delivering current to the north side at the low rate established in the 1913 contract.
Of the most outstanding contributions to the growth and development of Central Arkansas by Justin Matthews was his role in obtaining the construction of two reinforced concrete bridges across the Arkansas River. The Broadway-Main Street Bridge Commission was established in 1917 to plan and construct two new bridges across the Arkansas River. Matthews was appointed to the six-member commission and served as its secretary. Completion of the Broadway Bridge in 1923 was heralded with celebrations, fireworks, speeches and a grand parade. The Broadway Bridge replaced a bridge that had been weakened during its many years of use and was not safe for more than one vehicle at a time. The bridge project was a joint effort of Little Rock and North Little Rock alleviated the long time problems associated with crossing the river between the two cities. Four years later, in 1927, the commission directed construction of a second concrete bridge across the river, this time to connect the two cities’ Main Streets. Also in 1927 a new concrete viaduct over the railroad tracks was opened on Main Street between Ninth and Thirteenth streets.
Park Hill History
By Sandra Taylor Smith
Next
Park Hill Development. Despite the improvements Justin Matthews had spearheaded, land was still cheap in the railroad town. Matthews began to buy land in the city, much of it from the Missouri Pacific Railroad for taxes. But as astute businessman, he recognized the potential for growth in the highlands north of the city limits and began purchasing large tracts there from landowners.
The first few blocks in the hilly regions north of the city limits was platted by Justin Matthews in 1921. Early in 1922 Matthews announced the opening of the residential subdivision he had named “Park Hill.” One of Justin Matthews’ grandsons stated that his grandfather’s view, as a speculator, of this “high country” was that he could sell the land cheap and make a profit on the home construction. The time was ripe for development north of the city limits in 1922. That same year the War Depart- ment ruled that Camp Pike (northwest of the city) be turned over to the state for its National Guard units. And not coincidentally, the Broadway Bridge was almost completed and ready for easy automobile access to the north side of the river.
Accessibility was key to residential development on the edges of the city. Unlike the contemporaneous residential development in Little Rock’s Pulaski Heights, which was reached by a streetcar line, Matthews worked toward making Park Hill accessible by automobile. As the second major suburban development in Central Arkansas, Park Hill was the first to rely solely on automobile transportation.
However, due to poor road conditions, it was still difficult to reach the Park Hill development. A favorite story about Matthews’ technique for early buyers visiting Park Hill regarded how he would greet perspective buyers. At the foot of the hill, he would jump on the running board to help give their wheels some traction and go into his sales pitch on the merits of living in Park Hill all the way up the hill.
After completion of the Main Street and Broadway bridges, Justin Matthews was appointed by then Gov. John Martineau to the state’s first highway commission. Paving of the Arkansas-Missouri Highway (which coincidentally became the main thoroughfare through Matthews’ Park Hill development) was one of the first projects undertaken by the new commission. It assured easy automobile access to Park Hill.
An article in the Arkansas Gazette in April 1922 reported that ....”streets are being laid out and arc lights are to be installed. Yesterday workmen were digging holes for street light poles and in a few weeks Park Hill will have all the modern conveniences of a regular suburb.” Less than three months later the newspaper reported that the electric lines in Park Hill were almost complete and work had begun on the water system.
Early sales in Park Hill were geared to move the first 760 tract of land, which had been subdivided, into two-and-one-half-, five- and ten-acre tracts. Advertisements touting miniature country estates with city advantages appealed to the businessmen who worked in the city. Each tract had over 300 feet fronting a good road and was marked with white-painted, creosoted stakes at all four corners. Ten of the tracts were fenced and had a small orchard containing apple, peach, plum and cherry trees and three varieties of grapes planted on the rear of the properties. Prices were $50 an acre, consider- ably cheaper than in other developing areas such as Pulaski Heights. Matthews also pointed out in early advertisements that by purchasing large tracts of land in Park Hill, owners would get a desirable place to live with the potential to sub-divide the land at a future date as its value increased.
Park Hill was advertised as a “second Pulaski Heights” but with many advantages over the Little Rock suburban development. Park Hill was nearer the business district of Little Rock and North Little Rock, had a greater elevation, and thus cooler temperatures with added health benefits. Park Hill was more level than land in Pulaski Heights, with better views. It was also pointed out that in commuting to and from work from Park Hill to downtown, one would not have to face the sun in the morning and afternoon as they did during the east/west commute from Pulaski Heights.
Some of the first advertisements for Matthews’ development lured buyers to Park Hill through an almost unheard-of offer in the 1920s. The Park Hill Land Company, in an effort to erect the first ten homes in the development offered the potential buyer the chance to pay 10 percent of the cost of the home and the developers would furnish the lot and cash to cover the remaining 90 percent of the cost and pay out the remainder on a monthly basis as they would pay rent. The buyer could select plans for homes costing from $3,000 to $7,000 to suit their individual tastes. This offer, made for only the first ten buyers, was an ingenious way to “jump-start” the project and assure that the type of houses intended for the development would be built.
By June 1922 six homes were under construction, seven more were sold and in the planning stage. The first houses constructed in Park Hill, as well as hundreds of subsequent others built in the 1920s were modest renditions of popular architectural styles being built all over the country. The Crafts- man and the Craftsman Bungalow were the predominant house styles built in the early years of Park Hill development. Scattered throughout the area, though, are modest versions of the poplar Period Revival styles such as English Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival.
In April of 1923, barely one year after the official opening of the Park Hill Addition, thirty homes had been constructed and another six were under construction. Matthews announced the opening of another 400-acre section of Park Hill. Eleven blocks in the western area of the new section comprised some of the most picturesque portions of Park Hill. These blocks, whose western edge was Ridge Road, afforded the homeowner views of downtown and the mountain ranges to the west.
Also in April 1923 the Park Hill Land Co. announced that a new “modern” bus line would be put into service within two weeks. The buses seated eighteen and ran between Park Hill and downtown Little Rock at ten-minute intervals. And to add to the desirability of Park Hill, pipes for gas lines were laid in 1923.
Justin Matthews had formed the “Park Hill Land Company” to exclusively market and sell home sites in that development. The “Justin Matthews Company” extended Matthews’ land developments to other areas in Central Arkansas. In the mid 1920s the Justin Matthews Company was running advertisements for three separate residential suburban developments: Park Hill, Sylvan Hills and Westwood. Sylvan Hills (now included in the incorporated city of Sherwood) was a 10,000-acre development “on the highland” north of Park Hill, accessed by the paved Arkansas-Missouri High-way. Westwood was southwest of Little Rock’s city limits. “Matthews built” homes were advertised as quality construction with the best of materials and workmanship built to “endure the ravages of time.” These homes featured such luxuries as built-in ironing boards, pantries, cedar-lined closets, tile baths with pedestal lavatories and built-in medicine cabinets, wall-heated towel bars, hardwood floors and French doors. A nameplate was installed in each home which the company constructed, reading “Built By Justin Matthews, Real Estate and Investments, Builders of Homes That Endure The Ravages of Time.” In Park Hill this claim has proven to be true.
Reflective of the professionalism of its founder, the Justin Matthews Company was a highly efficient and profitable operation. The company’s close to 200 employees included an architect builder, Frank Carmean; a brick mason, Julius Bender; a road construction engineer, Robert Massey and a horticulturist / landscape artist, Oscar Wilhelm. All of these professional members of the company resided within the Park Hill development.
Just two years after the Park Hill development opened, growth was so great that there was need for an elementary school. Justin Matthews, in his visionary way, felt the suburban development would be handicapped by lack of a school. So in early 1924 Matthews offered to build a school and give it to the North Little Rock School District if they would operate it. The school board and Matthews struck a deal and in 1924 at a cost of $15,635, on land Matthews donated that was valued at $5,000, Park Hill Elementary School was built. The school officially opened in February 1925. Reflective of the steady growth in the area, it was expanded in 1930, 1948 and 1953. The building is non contributing to the historic district due to inappropriate replacement of windows in the main building in the early 1990s; nevertheless the construction of Park Hill Elementary School solidified the presence of this suburban development and it continues to be one of the strong assets of the neighborhood.
To read more, download the document
“The Park Hill Historic District, North Little Rock” from the Lin
