Concrete marker for "La Petite Roche", The Little Rock for which the town is named.

The Little Rock actually refers to a stone outcropping into the Arkansas River. The Junction Bridge sits atop of it. Much of it has been worn flat by construction over the years.

This is the first, and smallest, outcrop of stone into the Arkansas River and signals the transition from the flat Mississippi delta to the mountain foothills. Little Rock was used as a landmark by travelers moving up the river in the 1700's. Initially named by a French trader as La Petite Roche, the name stuck as Little Rock.