May 31, 1872

Congress authorized the Little Rock Bridge Company to construct a bridge across the river at the Point of Rocks to be available to all railroads terminating at the river, as well as to wagon traffic. Work began on a “shore pier” at the Point of Rocks in October 1872. “Several tons of rock have been cut away and thrown into the river, so much so as to greatly change the appearance of the rock from the lower side,” according to an account in the October 29 Gazette. Two days later, the paper urged some artist “to take a photograph of the ‘Little Rock,’ from which our city derives its name, before it is destroyed by the ruthless hand of civilization.”