Archeological artifacts provide evidence of Native Americans inhabiting Central Arkansas for thousands of years before European colonists arrived.

Little Rock was named for a stone outcropping on the bank of the Arkansas River used by early travelers as a landmark, which marked the transition from the flat Mississippi Delta region to the Ouachita Mountain foothills.

A land speculator from St. Louis, Missouri who had acquired many acres around the "little rock" began pressuring the Arkansas territorial legislature in February 1820 to move the capital to the site, but the representatives could not decide between Little Rock or Cadron (now Conway), which was the preferred site of Territorial Governor James Miller.

The issue was tabled until October 1820, by which time most of the legislators and other influential men had purchased lots around Little Rock.

Minnijean Brown, Terrence Roberts, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls, who had been recruited by Daisy Bates and the NAACP, attempted to integrate Central High School, but Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the segregationists, and only backed down after Judge Ronald Davies of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas granted an injunction from the U.S. Department of Justice compelling him to withdraw the Guard.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, on the request of Woodrow Wilson Mann, Little Rock's mayor, deployed the 101st Airborne Division to the city and federalized the Arkansas National Guard to protect the students and ensure their safe passage to the school.

The Little Rock school episode drew international attention to the treatment of African Americans in the United States.

Northwest of the city limits are Pinnacle Mountain and Lake Maumelle, which provides Little Rock's drinking water.

An Arkansas Supreme Court decision on February 6, 1904, allowed the ward to merge with the neighboring town of North Little Rock.

[30] It was one of the highest per-capita homicide rates in the country, placing Little Rock fifth in Money Magazine's 1994 list of most dangerous cities.

[28] In July 2017, a shootout occurred at the Power Ultra Lounge nightclub in downtown Little Rock; although there were no deaths, 28 people were injured and one hospitalized.

Little Rock and its surroundings are home to headquarters for large nonprofit organizations, such as Winrock International, Heifer International, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Clinton Foundation, Lions World Services for the Blind, Clinton Presidential Center, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, FamilyLife, Audubon Arkansas, and The Nature Conservancy.

It is designated as Foreign Trade Zone 14. International corporations such as Danish manufacturer LM Glasfiber have established new facilities adjacent to the port.

A member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT D), The Rep has produced more than 300 productions, including 40 world premieres, in its building in downtown Little Rock.

The Rep produces works from contemporary comedies and dramas to world premiers and the classics of dramatic literature.

Lassis Inn was a meeting place for civil rights leaders in the 1950s and 1960s, including Daisy Bates, while they were planning efforts such as the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.

[35][36][37][38][39][excessive citations] In 2017, it was among the three inaugural inductees into the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame, along with Rhoda's Famous Hot Tamales and Jones Bar-B-Q Diner.

Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium hosts at least one University of Arkansas Razorback football game each year.

Each fall, the city closes the golf course on Razorback football weekends to allow the estimated 80,000 people who attend take part in tailgating activities.

Established in 1959, the club hosts multiple regattas during the year on both Lake Maumelle and the Arkansas River.

The current mayor, elected in November 2018, is Frank Scott Jr., a former assistant bank executive, pastor and state highway commissioner.

The Pulaski Technical College Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute and The Finish Line Cafe are also in Little Rock-South.

The Central Arkansas Library System comprises the main building downtown and numerous branches throughout the city, Jacksonville, Maumelle, Perryville, Sherwood and Wrightsville.

Beginning in 2020, the ADG ceased weekday publication of the newspaper and moved to an exclusive online version.

In addition to area newspapers, the Little Rock market is served by a variety of magazines covering diverse interests.

The publications are: Many television networks have local affiliates in Little Rock, in addition to numerous independent stations.

Shorter routes designed to accommodate the flow of urban traffic across town include I-430, which bypasses the city to the west, I-440, which serves the eastern part of Little Rock including Clinton National Airport, and I-630 which runs east–west through the city, connecting west Little Rock with the central business district.

Rock Region Metro, which until 2015 was named the Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA), provide public bus service within the city.

Greyhound Lines serves Dallas and Memphis, as well as intermediate points, with numerous connections to other cities and towns.

A walk-out of one of the two services, Medic Vac, led to the creation of the Little Rock Ambulance Authority and MEMS in 1984.