Hillcrest (Little Rock): Difference between revisions

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'''Hillcrest Historic District''' is a historic neighborhood in [[Little Rock, Arkansas]] that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1990. It is often referred to as [[Hillcrest]] by the people who live there, although the district's boundaries actually encompass several neighborhood additions that were once part of the incorporated town of [[Pulaski Heights]]. The town of Pulaski Heights was annexed to the city of Little Rock in 19191916. The Hillcrest Residents Association uses the tagline "Heart of Little Rock" because the area is located almost directly in the center of the city and was the first street car suburb in Little Rock and among the first of neighborhoods in Arkansas.

The Hillcrest Historic District includes several neighborhood additions platted between 1890 and 1920, including Hillcrest, Pulaski Heights, Auten & Moss, The Hollenberg, Midland Hills, Elmhurst, Lincoln Park, Mountainand Park, Country Club Heights, West Rock, andseveral others. The district is comprised of an area that was once part of the town of Pulaski Heights and has been expanded to incorporate nearby neighborhoods in the last decade. In the 19th Century, this hilly area was outside of the Little Rock city limits and its hills and ridge lines 3 -4 miles to the northwest were allwas simply referred to by city locals and developers as The Highlands or The Heights and extended west of Little Rock 3 to 4 miles. TheInvestors in the City Electric Street Railway Company and its directors Mason Benjamin, Harry Kelley, and James Jones acquired much of the land in 1888 before any residential or commercial development had begunbegan. The planstreet car company was second in a line of street car companies in Little Rock but the first to run on electricity, steam, or coal. The plan to extend electric and steam powered street car service to the area earlyin onthe as1880s was a means to promote real estate development, and the companyarea's directorsdevelopment workedand withincrease lumbermenridership toof clearthe timberstreet for that purposecar.<ref name=NEWSPAP>{{cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=14151783 |title=Development |publisher=Daily Arkansas Gazette |archivedate=1888-01-17 |deadurl=yes |accessdate=2018-03-10</ref>

In the early days, there were only two ways to get to the highlands and neither were easy. A shorter and more direct route required a bridge over a deep ravine where the St. Louis & Choctaw railroadRailroad tracks ran at West 3rd Street. The street car company's contract with the St. Louis & Choctaw Railroad to build a steel bridge was delayed by the Panic of 1893. when severalSeveral railroads had already gone bankrupt and steel was scarce and expensive. Some Michigan real estate developers moved to Little Rock on advise from lumbermen harvesting the area timber and acquired interest in the landreal estate. They a land company and built a few homes for themselves, andbut laterit took a few more years to built a wooden bridge using their own money. so thatThe street car service couldwas finally be extended to the area in 1904. Onceby constructed,a thedifferent railway company. The street car line ran from downtown Little Rock to the first stop near the current intersection of Markham Street and Kavanaugh Boulevard in the Stifft's Station neighborhood of Little Rock. ItFrom there, it curved west upon Kavanaugh Boulevard, then named Prospect Avenue, to a second stop where North Martin intersects today. TheA third stop was at the current intersection of Kavanaugh and Woodlawn and the forth at Beechwood. The street car continued all the way to the Country Club with stops in between. Once reaching the area was made more convenient with the street car, residences for the wealthier and more prominent citizens of Little Rock began to be built, and the area now includes many diverse architectural styles and structures built over several decades until the mid-century. Only a few houses that were built in the 19th century are part of the district today, having been built by the original investors who came to Little Rock from Michigan. Most of the homes in Hillcrest Historic District today were built in the early part of the 20th century and are of the Arts & Crafts or Bungalow styles.