West Rock (Pulaski County)

West Rock was an unincorporated working-class African American community located at what is now the intersection of Cantrell and Cedar Hill in Little Rock (Pulaski County). Families began to settle in the area during the mid-1800s, with the first petition for incorporation being announced in the Arkansas Gazette in 1884. By 1956, West Rock was home to eighty-three families, many of whom were related to other families within the small suburb and employed at the neighboring Riverdale Country Club, as well as in the homes and businesses in the Pulaski Heights community. Residents were state and federal employees, railroad workers, stone masons, landlords, and employees in private industry.

A pre–Civil War labor shortage gave Little Rock a reputation of being more progressive than surrounding parts of the state. Many skilled enslaved workers were able to hire out their labor, negotiate their own terms, and often purchase their own living quarters, creating diversity in neighborhoods in the city. Following the Civil War, the state offered sharecroppers and domestic laborers a chance at landownership. A lack of laws prohibiting African Americans and whites from living side by side in residential areas contributed to the formation of many “salt and pepper” neighborhoods throughout the region.

The absence of statewide residential segregation laws did not prevent the establishment of racial covenants by local neighborhood associations, however, as seen at the development of the Pulaski Heights subdivision in the area adjacent to West Rock. Although established as a “whites only” community in 1905, Pulaski Heights residents utilized the labor and domestic services of its African American neighbors in the West Rock community. However, Pulaski Heights residents’ desire for a highway and more recreational space meant the clearance of the “blighted” area in their neighboring community. By 1926, a map of the expansion of the westward corridor showed plans to develop a highway that would encroach upon the West Rock community. Later came plans for the development of the Junior Deputy Baseball Field and Allsopp Park.

West Rock was further encroached upon in 1946 when Fred Allsopp bequeathed the city $5,000 to develop “a feasible and satisfactory plan to remove the objectionable eyesore along Cantrell Road in the West Rock area.”

After the passage of the federal Housing Act of 1949, which set a national goal of providing every American with a decent home and living environment, West Rock residents requested that the city improve the roads and add running water and sewer service to the area. The city refused, later citing residents for unsanitary conditions, and thus allowing the Little Rock Housing Authority to use legislation intended for revitalizing public housing in Black areas with new housing units to extend segregation.

In 1950, a special election was held to win voter approval for Little Rock Ordinance Number 8163, which would clear the areas determined to be slums or blighted (what has been called “urban renewal”). By 1958, PROJECT ARK-4, also known as the Little Rock Housing Authority Renewal Plan, encompassed the demolition of 108 structures across 53.69 acres in the West Rock community. Properties were seized using eminent domain, and families were forced to move from the area. The redevelopment project following the leveling of West Rock included straightening a sharp curve along Cantrell Road and developing high-value white housing inclusive of luxury apartments, shopping, and residential lots in the neighborhood now known as Riverdale. The project cost a total of $1.4 million, and estimated tax revenues were projected to increase from $3,165, to $42,398. The small working-class community was quickly replaced by upper-class white housing.

Removal of the residents began in April 1959, and by 1960, the Little Rock Housing Authority had issued a two-page newsletter describing West Rock as a “52-acre area nestled between the arms of Allsopp Park…[that] has been totally cleared and site improvements are under way.” About 283 residents—including sixty-two families and twenty-one individuals—were forced to leave their homes and land in the area, being pushed toward the eastern parts of Little Rock or moved out of the city. Those who relocated east ended up living in segregated suburbs or public housing complexes like Joseph A. Booker Homes, a 400-unit complex located in the Granite Mountain neighborhood built in 1953, or Hollingsworth Grove, located in the East End community and built in 1955. Social and economic networks were also rebuilt among the displaced as they reopened churches and businesses in their new homes.

In the twenty-first century, the former West Rock community known as the Riverdale neighborhood is home to prime commercial and residential real estate. The median income for residents in this area is $94,000. It is notable for being a mixed-use community that blends residential, commercial, and industrial spaces with recreational opportunities along the Arkansas River Trail.

For additional information:
Arnold, Margaret. “The Value Is in the Money, but the Price Is in the Roots: LR’s Vanishing Black Communities.” Arkansas Times, June 1978, pp. 36–43.

“Mitchell to Shed Light on the Removal of Little Rock’s Westernmost Black Suburb.” University of Arkansas at Little Rock News Archive, January 30, 2019. https://ualr.edu/news-archive/2019/01/30/mitchell-removal-of-little-rock-westernmost-black-suburb/ (accessed January 16, 2026).

Roher, Acadia. “West Rock to East: Housing Segregation during Urban Renewal.” Mapping Renewal NEH Project Blog. UALR Exhibits.org. October 26, 2018. https://ualrexhibits.org/mappingblog/2018/10/26/west-rock-to-east-housing-segregation-during-urban-renewal/ (accessed January 16, 2026).

Tell-Hall, Nancy. “Little Rock Urban Renewal Project Ark-4: The Demise of West Rock, Arkansas, 1884–1960.” MA thesis, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2019. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2394781314 (accessed January 16, 2026).

Shandrea Murphy-Washington
Little Rock, Arkansas