Story of a Rivertown: Little Rock in the Nineteenth Century [Book]

Story of a Rivertown: Little Rock in the Nineteenth Century was written by Ira Don Richards and self-published in 1969. Richards was a history professor at Henderson State College (now Henderson State University) in Arkadelphia (Clark County). Story of a Rivertown, the first monograph about the history of Little Rock (Pulaski County), was his effort to address the dearth of published material about Arkansas history beyond elementary school histories decades old. Historian Margaret Smith Ross’s blurb printed on the book’s jacket proclaimed the book to be “the first competent study of the evolution of Little Rock.” The book remains a useful addition to Arkansas historiography.

The book was favorably reviewed by Walter Brown, history professor at the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County) and editor of the Arkansas Historical Association’s journal, the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. Brown described Richards as seeing “the town first of all as the village capital of a raw frontier territory; next as a rivertown on the make that never quite made it, and finally, by 1900 as a railroad and cotton center on the make that made it.” Richards, according to Brown, “explains [Little Rock’s] slow growth and immaturity in terms of ‘an urban frontier’ that faced almost insurmountable odds.”

Brown sums up the book as being a look at the politics, religion, health, urban growth, social and cultural activities, and other aspects of Little Rock’s nineteenth-century history. Richards is commended by Brown for his objective, extremely honest assessments and for being seemingly unafraid of offending descendants of early town fathers.

Brown did have criticisms of the book, mainly that it was so short (only 144 pages), writing, “I wish it had been at least twice as long, but as it is, it is the only satisfactory book on Little Rock.” Ever the academic, Brown faulted Richards for putting the book’s notes at the end of the book rather than using footnotes and for the index being “inordinately brief.” But in the end, Brown felt the book was a “worthwhile effort” and strongly recommended it to Arkansans.

Ira Don Richards (1933–2016) was born in Bauxite (Saline County) and grew up in Benton (Saline County). He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Arkansas and his PhD from Tulane University. He was a faculty member at Henderson State during the years 1961–1995, after previously teaching at Southeastern Louisiana University in 1960–1961. He died at his farm in Saline County and is buried in James Cemetery in Benton.

For additional information:
Brown, Walter. Review of Story of a Rivertown: Little Rock in the Nineteenth Century. Arkansas Historical Quarterly 29 (Spring 1970): 85–88.

Obituary of Ira Don Richards. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 13, 2016.

Richards, Ira Don. Story of a Rivertown: Little Rock in the Nineteenth Century. N.p.: 1969.

Bob Razer
Little Rock, Arkansas