"Note. Most of these images can be found on other websites.
They all were ripped off from this page. These images were scanned
from public domain documents purchased by me on EBay and then cleaned
up and sized with Photoshop. Enjoy the originals here.

Raymond Merritt, 2007


Downtown Little Rock, Arkansas, From 1950 to the 1960s, and then 2006




1950


Main Street looking north from between Capitol and Sixth Streets about 1950. The black car under the Pfeifer's clock is a 1948 Buick, and the yellow cab turning onto Capitol is a 1950 Plymouth and the light green car on the right is a 1950 Oldsmobile. Look carefully in the street and you can see the shadow of the overhead wires for the trolleybus, one of which is coming at you in the distance. It's the second, most distant, one. The first bus, the nearest one to you, is not a trolley, it's a diesel. You can tell the difference because the trolleys are short and squat, while the diesels are taller, to make room for the fuel tanks under the passenger seating area. By 1950, Capitol Transit Company was acquiring non-electric busses to replace trolleybusses. Little Rock was expanding, and diesel busses could go anywhere immediately, without the time and expense of installing overhead lines.

Scroll to the bottom to see this same view in 2006.

Some of the businesses I can make out with a magnified version of this picture are:

From south to north, west side of the street (left side, going away)

The Pfeifer's clock. Pfeifer's Department Store is out of the picture south of the clock at Sixth and Main
M. M. Cohn, 510 Main
Baker's Shoes 504 Main
National Shirt Shops, across Capitol at 424 Main
Kempners, 418 Main
Blass, 4th and Main
New Theater, 112 Main
Hotel Grady Manning (The two-tone white-topped red-brick building at Markham and Main)

From south to north, east side of the street (right side, going away)

Stifft's Jewelers, 511 Main
Butler's Shoes
J. C. Penney, 505 Main
Walgreen Drugs, 501 Main
Planter's Peanuts (Across Capitol at the far end of the awning)
Rube And Scott Men's Wear, 417 Main
Moore's Cafeteria, 415 Main
Haverty's Furniture, 413 Main
The edge of the Center Theater marquee, 407 Main

Note: I don't have addresses for Butler's Shoes or Planter's Peanuts, which were gone by the time my 1954 telephone book was printed.



1955


Main Street looking south from Markham in 1955. There are still some overhead transit power lines, but none of the busses that are visible use them. Note all the busses. I count at least 10. I also count a total of about 60 cars in view, including the parked ones. Suppose that ratio holds true today? Note also the open windows above the "Budweiser" sign the other side of the New and this side of the Post Office Cafe. Those were un-airconditioned apartments. I stood in line at the New one night waiting for the show to end so we could go in, and someone living in those apartments was practicing his horn. You could hear that trumpet all over town.

Some of the businesses I can make out with a magnified version of this picture are:

From north to south, east side of the street (left side, going away)

American Bar and Liquor Store, 113 Main
Eaton Barber College, 119 Main
Stein's Clothing Store, 301 Main
KTHS, 313 Main
Livingston's Family Credit Apparel Store, 317 Main
Haverty's Furniture, 413 Main
Standard Furniture Company, 609 Main

From north to south, west side of the street (right side, going away)

Modern Hatters And Cleaners, 104 Main (At the "Alterations" sign)
Main Theater, 106 Main
Camera Center, 108 Main
New Theater, 112 Main
Bevis Recreation Parlor, 118 Main
Bob's Place Restaurant, 118 1/2 Main
Post Office Cafe, 120 Main
Economy Drugs, 122 Main
Harry Scher Jewelry, 208 Main (Later moved to 106 W. Capitol)
People's Credit Clothing Store, 210 Main
Miller's Coffee Shop, 212 Main
Capital Clothiers, 214 Main
Seymour's Credit Clothing, 224 Main
Kinney Shoe Store, 224 Main (Listed with same address as Seymour's)
Green's Furs, 304 Main
Blass, 4th and Main
Kempner's, 418 Main

Note: I can't explain this, but there is an "American" sign on the scan (next to a sign that begins with "Blue"), and in both the 1954 and 1957 telephone directories, the American Bar and Liquor Store is listed at 113 Main. It so happens Larry Robinson Photographer's Studio is also listed at 113 Main. I remember that in the late 1950s, Larry Robinson ran a daily ad in the Arkansas Gazette classifieds that said "10 dollars a day, paid every day, apply in person at 113 Main". Perhaps Larry Robinson was upstairs, or perhaps he ran a liquor store on the side. I do not remember.



1956


Main Street looking north from about a half block south of Fourth Street in 1956. The single traffic light is a part of the new "Denver Lights" which allowed pedestrians to walk directly from any corner to any other corner. Note the absence of overhead transit power lines that were present in 1950. By 1956 the transition was complete and all busses were diesel-powered.

Some of the businesses I can make out with a magnified version of this picture are:

From south to north, west side of the street (left side, going away)

Woolworth, 400 Main
Blass, 4th and Main
Green's Furs, 304 Main
New Theater, 112 Main (in the distance)
Hotel Grady Manning (The two-tone white-topped red-brick building at Markham and Main)

From south to north, east side of the street (right side, going away)

The edge of the Center Theater marquee, 407 Main
Worthen Bank and Trust, 401 Main
Economy Drugs, 4th and Main
Livingston's Family Credit Apparel Store, 317 Main
KTHS, 313 Main

Note: There were five (count 'em, five) Economy Drugs open downtown at the same time. They were at 122 Main, 4th and Main, 700 Main, 1423 Main, and 124 West Capitol (see below).



1956


Main Street at night looking south from Fourth Street in 1956. Probably taken on a Sunday night because on a weeknight Main Street was busier than this even after the stores closed at 9:00 P.M. Most likely, all the stores are closed and the parked cars you see are movie-goers at the Center Theater on the left.

The movie advertised on the Center Theater marquee is "Toward The Unknown", which was released in the summer of 1956 and starred William Holden and Virginia Leith and marked the movie debut of James Garner.

Some of the businesses I can make out with a magnified version of this picture are:

From north to south, east side of the street (left side, going away)

Center Theater, 407 Main
Singer Sewing Center, 409 Main
Haverty's Furniture, 413 Main (about the only furniture NOT on West Seventh)
Moore's Cafeteria, 415 Main (Formerly Mrs. Atkins' Cafeteria)
Rube And Scott Men's Wear, 417 Main
Lane Rexall Drugstore, 423 Main (The blue and red neon sign at Capitol)
Walgreen Drugs, 501 Main (on the corner across Capitol)

From north to south, west side of the street (right side, going away)

Franklin's Women's Apparel, 408 Main
Kempner's, 418 Main
Vogue Shoes, 414 Main

Note: The huge neon sign at Main and Capitol was the logo for Finkbeiner's Capital Pride Meats. There is a fierce debate among those who Email me as to whether this sign was over Lane Rexall, at 423 Main, or Walgreen's, across the street at 501 Main. It's hard to tell from this picture, and I've never found another that resolves the issue, and the verbage at the bottom of the sign - which might be relevant - is unreadable. I don't remember, so I go with whomever screams the loudest, which changes. Regardless, Finkbeiner's offices were at 900 High Street, not on Main. Apparently, the only reason the sign was at Capitol and Main was that Finkbeiner wanted it there and he had the money to put it there. Finkbeiner's logo from the phone book and a poor daytime resolution color crop of the sign are at the right.



1958


Capitol Avenue (5th Street) looking west from about a half block east of Main in 1958. The Capitol Theater sign is in the distance on the north side of the street. Franke's Cafeteria is on the south side a half block west of Main. That's a 1958 Cadillac waiting to cross Main on the left coming at you, and on the right waits a Cushman Eagle motorcycle going the other way.

Scroll to the bottom to see this same view in 2006.

Fifth and Main was where it was at. Some of the businesses I can make out with a magnified version of this picture are:

From east to west, south side of the street (left side, going away)

Pattison Jewelers, 105 W. Capitol
Guaranteed Shoe Store, 107 W. Capitol
Franke's Cafeteria, 115 W. Capitol
Melford Jewelers & Optical, 121 W. Capitol
Ragon's Shoes, 125 W. Capitol
Super Market, 129 W. Capitol (that was its name)
Sterling Department Store, W. Capitol and Center
The Center Pharmacy, 301 W. Capitol
Wedo's Cafe, 303 W. Capitol
Desoto Hardware, 307 W. Capitol (Thanks to Richard Shewmaker, whose mother,Eva Heath, owned it)
P. C. Hardware, 313 W. Capitol
Western Auto, 325 W. Capitol
Baptist Book Store, 401 W. Capitol
Safeway Grocery, 411 W. Capitol
Krebs Brothers Supply Company, 413 W. Capitol
Hotel Sam Peck, 625 W. Capitol (across Broadway, between Arch and Gaines Streets)

From east to west, north side of the street (right side, going away)

Harry Scher Jewelry, 106 W. Capitol (Moved from 208 Main. See the 1955 Picture above)
Capital Hat and Sporting Goods, 108 W. Capitol
Howard Hobby Jeweler, 108 W. Capitol (listed with the same address as Capital Hat)
Sportland Arcade, 110 W. Capitol
Liberty Sandwich House, 112 W. Capitol
Eddie's Lounge
Economy Drugs, 124 W. Capitol
Merle Norman Cosmetics (moved from 115 E. Capitol)
Unknown Beauty Salon
It's lost in the mass of signage, but Krystal Hamburgers is at 200 W. Capitol at Louisiana
Tom and Andrew's Barbecue, 210 W. Capitol
Capital Typewriter, 216 W. Capitol
Aleck's Liquor Store, actually on Center Street
Arkansas Beauty School and Salon, 314 W. Capitol
Capitol Theater, 324 W. Capitol
B. F. Goodrich Tire Company and Gulf Service Station, (at Broadway)
Dumas Milner Pontiac, 806 W. Capitol (across Broadway at State Street)

Note: Addresses not listed are not in my 1957 telephone book.



Early 1960s


Main Street looking north from Just south of Sixth Street in the early 1960s. The blue car is a 1963 Ford Galaxie. Note that Pfeifer's (Home Center) on the right (east side of Main) is celebrating their 100th anniversary, which would place the picture about 1964, but Dillard's purchased Pfeifer's in 1963 and it is not known how long after the purchase the Pfeifer's storefront remained. Pfeifer's Home Center was in a separate building from the main Pfeifer's Department Store which is on the left (west side of Main).



Main Street, 2006


This is the same view as the 1950 picture at the top of the page. My photo taken July 3, 2006.



Capitol Avenue, 2006


This is the same view as the 1958 picture just above. My photo taken July 3, 2006.