Pulaski Heights, Little Rock, Arkansas

Pulaski Heights is a section of the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, located in the north-central portion of the city. The area comprises two distinct neighborhoods representing an historic suburb dating from the 1890s that was among the first areas to be annexed into Little Rock.

Incorporated in 1905 and annexed to Little Rock in 1916, Pulaski Heights today remains among the more independent-minded areas of the city, with a strong sense of community in both its northern, upper-elevation portion (The Heights) and its southern, lower-elevation portion (Hillcrest). Throughout Pulaski Heights there curves a beautiful east–west thoroughfare, Kavanaugh Boulevard (including portions formerly known as Prospect Avenue), named for W. M. Kavanaugh, a former Pulaski County judge and local businessman and banker who was also a founder of the Little Rock Baseball Association. The lovely tree-lined boulevard passes by a number of shops and boutiques unique to Little Rock, as well as historic buildings and locations such as the former Pulaski Heights Town Hall, the former Pulaski Heights Assembly Hall, Mount St. Mary Academy, and the original headquarters site of Allied Telephone Company (the earliest incarnation of Alltel and particularly its spinoff, Windstream Communications).

"The Heights" is the northern-most section of Pulaski Heights and has been long considered to be one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Little Rock, as it is home to many established, old-monied families. Many large, majestic homes line the streets of The Heights, especially in its historic Edge Hill and Prospect Terrace additions, which were primarily first developed in the 1920s. The neighborhood has been home to the exclusive Country Club of Little Rock since the club's founding in 1902, and its commercial areas offer a number of fashionable shopping and dining destinations. Administrative offices for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock are located at St. John's Center on N. Tyler Street. A variety of architectural styles can be found in The Heights representing the decades from its earliest settlement to the present day.

One early attraction of The Heights was Forest Park, developed in 1904 soon after the Little Rock Traction and Electric Company introduced streetcar service into Pulaski Heights in 1903. The park, located at the end of the Pulaski Heights streetcar line, was intended to increase ridership and income for the company, especially on weekends; it was bounded by Kavanaugh Boulevard (then Prospect Avenue) on the south, "V" Street on the north, N. Taylor Street on the east, and University Avenue (then N. Hayes Street) on the west. The main entrance into the park was situated approximately where N. Pierce Street crosses Kavanaugh Boulevard today. Special features and attractions offered at the park included a promenade and gardens, a dance pavilion, a bandstand for band and vocal concerts, a small zoo, a figure-eight railroad, a merry-go-round, a "laughing gallery," a shooting gallery, refreshment stands, a special track for horseracing, and a large block-long pool fed by artesian wells for swimming. Also located on the grounds was a streetcar barn. A white-stucco auditorium, designed in the early Mission architectural style, could seat up to 1,000 persons. Probably the largest entertainment ever held at Forest Park was one of several "last" dramatic performances by the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt, which reportedly drew a crowd of some 3,000 attendees. Undoubtedly, the most spectacular entertainment offered at the park were the Sunday ascensions of an acrobatic balloonist who performed from a parachute-supported trapeze.

...
Wikipedia