Moving Through Time
The Chamber’s desire to create a strong economic base for the area led it to realize that successful business depends upon well-developed trade routes. In this vein, the Chamber expanded its role to include the realm of transportation. Little Rock's successful development into a major regional city is due partly to the Chamber's forward-looking vision, a vision that includes a strong transportation system based on railroads, the Arkansas River, interstates and roads, and the Little Rock National Airport. As transportation methods changed, the Chamber's focus evolved. Early concerns of the Chamber were railroad and river development. However, as automobile use and airplane transport developed, the Chamber shifted to these new concerns. Despite changes, the Chamber continues to deal with many aspects of transportation and to oversee Little Rock's growth into the next century.
The Chamber realized the importance of railroads. In fact, in 1867 the Chamber struggled to secure the running of trains on the Memphis and Little Rock line, even appointing a special committee to look into the matter. Despite efforts to attract other railroads such as the Cairo and Fulton to Arkansas, in 1868 only one line, the Memphis and Little Rock, was active. It, however, remained unfinished.
Early railroad lines in Arkansas experienced many financial problems, yet the Chamber continued its efforts to attract new companies into the area. In 1883, merchants expressed their desire for the Iron Mountain Railroad Company to build a line from Little Rock to Hot Springs. The line, they proclaimed, would benefit the rail company and increase trade and business growth. Their claims were justified, as Arkansas cotton production doubled and the state population increased in the 1870s and 1880s. This agricultural expansion, combined with continuing efforts to build railroads, gave Arkansas the opportunity to ship its natural resources to the rest of the nation.
Despite economic expansion, Arkansas continued to face problems with railroad transport. In 1885, for example, Arkansas merchants' indignation over high railroad tariff rates exploded. The Arkansas Gazette gave a detailed picture of this problem. In June 1885, G.F. Baucum (a local wholesale merchant) stated, "There is a murderous local rate on all the roads…The Cotton and Produce Exchange has made complaint after complaint and the railroads have paid no attention to them. There is no fixed published tariff of rates for us to go by." In answer to such complaints, an editorial in the Arkansas Gazette argued that the setting of maximum and minimum rates would hurt railroad commerce. As the paper pointed out, Arkansas had less than 1800 miles of rails and needed at least 4000 miles to develop the state's resources. Indeed, even the setting of fixed tariffs displeased Little Rock merchants. Chamber members discussed the fact that Little Rock paid more than other markets to send cotton by rail to places like St. Louis. Little Rock, in fact, was required to pay forty cents per one hundred pounds of cotton rail transport to St. Louis. While St. Louis paid twenty-seven cents per one hundred pounds for transport to New York even though it was a much longer distance. Little Rock merchants demanded equal rates, and organizations like the Chamber aided their efforts.
Despite early problems with attracting railroads to Arkansas, the Chamber continued its efforts and found success. In 1895, the Chamber discussed encouraging the Little Rock and Memphis line to expand its rail to Texas. Also, the Chamber called for a line from Little Rock to some point westward, offering to give $100,000 to any railroad that would build such a line. Hot Springs improved the offer by promising $50,000 to the rail company that would build its line from Little Rock to Hot Springs. Once again, the Chamber expressed its opinion that railroads would increase the wealth, population, and businesses of the community.
By 1900, Arkansas had 2,203 miles of railroad track. Rail lines included, among others, the Missouri-Pacific, the Little Rock and Hot Springs Western, and the Illinois Central. The Chamber also dealt with the changing factors of railway transportation. In 1896, for example, the Chamber still sought equitable freight rates form Memphis and St. Louis to Little Rock and suggested the use of economical convict labor to build railroads. In 1922, the Chamber finally experienced some success reducing rates. The Traffic Bureau reported reductions in rates on cotton, paper, grain products, and other freight goods. The Bureau also wrote of its continuing efforts to further reduce rates on goods such as fertilizer and cottonseed. Such issues continued into the 1970s. The Chamber, in the meantime, struggled with loss of rail jobs and the effects of the Depression.
By the 1930s, the Chamber dealt with even more railroad issues. With the coming of the Depression and economic problems, the Chamber found itself not only working out internal difficulties but also facing railroad company job losses. In 1934, for example, the Chamber lobbied the Missouri-Pacific and Rock Island to keep their downtown ticket offices open. In 1938, the city again faced personnel reductions at the Missouri-Pacific lines. A letter from Chamber manager D. Hodson Lewis to the rail company pointed out that this meant, “an additional loss of approximately fifteen men with an annual payroll of about $31,000.”
Chamber concern over diminishing railroad jobs continued after the Depression. In 1950, remembering its duty to the entire greater Little Rock area, it expressed uncertainty over the future of North Little Rock’s Missouri-Pacific rail shops. As coal and oil burning engines became obsolete and diesel engines gained popularity, the Chamber feared that the four thousand shop employees would lose their jobs. Such fears seemed confirmed as Missouri-Pacific expanded its diesel shop in 1953 and reduced services to Little Rock.
The Chamber’s concerned interest with rail rates persisted into the 1970s. Decades earlier it had opposed government ownership and regulation of railroads. However, in 1936 the Chamber found a balance between railroad and city interests in the Interstate Commerce Acts that included limiting the charges on long and short hauls of freight goods. Such regulations required railroads to publish rates and obtain permission before changing them. Yet, as late as 1970, the Chamber still dealt with questions of rail rate increases when it considered filing a protest to delay rate increases on interstate rail carriers.
The Chamber’s involvement in attracting railroads aided early economic development in Little Rock and the state. However, the organization also occupied itself with other issues, such as the development of the Arkansas River. The Chamber realized the river’s value to state commerce and development. In 1886, it was already engaged in a quest to make the Arkansas River navigable. H.S. Tabor, of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, developed a plan to improve the river. He estimated a cost of $2.5 million for primary hurdles to control river deposits and make a channel at least three hundred feet wide and six feet deep from Little Rock to the Mississippi River. His plan included a canal from Little Rock to the White River at Devall’s Bluff. Pine Bluff and Little Rock supported Tabor’s plan and urged congressional representatives to lobby Congress for appropriate funds. The Chamber issued a memorial to Congress extolling the Arkansas River Valley’s virtues as a “natural highway of commerce” and “one of the richest and most fertile (river valleys) in the south.” Many people along the river relied upon it for transportation of products in and out of the area, yet low water often cut these people off from commerce and communication.
The Chamber called for river navigation improvements for many years before seeing results. In 1891 the organization again expressed its desire for good river transport by calling a meeting of the Arkansas Valley River Convention. The Chamber desired larger congressional appropriation for the river and sought support from other cities in Arkansas. The Chamber’s vision for the future wisely included involvement with other larger organizations.
The Chamber’s involvement with these organizations can also be found in 1927. It was a major ally of the Red Cross, the Arkansas Farm Credit Company, and the Arkansas Flood Relief Commission in flood relief work after the Spring Flood of 1927. These alliances and actions aided the Chamber’s public reputation and also underlined the need for river improvements to control flooding.
By 1929, the Chamber turned its focus to the Arkansas River Channel Campaign, led by the Arkansas River Association. This campaign, with an annual budget of $10,000, secured the Arkansas channel project’s incorporation into the work of the Mississippi Valley Association. This much larger association gave Arkansans another voice for river improvements, such as making the river deeper and wider and building embankments. Other campaign achievements included the start of a tonnage survey to present to the War Department analyzing the costs for river improvements.
The Chamber still supported Tabor’s idea of a Little Rock-White River canal in 1933. However, this plan was never implemented. Instead, the Chamber’s focus shifted even more to canalization of the Arkansas River itself. This year brought problems because of the War Department’s initial opposition to river improvement costs. Yet, in 1934, the Chamber’s affiliation with the Mississippi Valley Association grew, and it advised Arkansas congressmen to introduce a $300,000 bill for river revetments (embankments) above Little Rock.
In 1946 the Chamber finally saw some success with river issues when the House Rivers and Harbors Committee recommended $55 million for river construction projects. This bill, H.R. 6407, included fifty-eight other construction projects besides that of the Arkansas River. Before 1954 little progress had been made on the Arkansas River and the Chamber petitioned Congress to instruct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction as outlined in the bill. Because of emergency conditions confronting the nation due to the Korean War, a Truman administration order stated that no new projects would receive money for construction efforts. However, in 1954, Congress made appropriations for new projects on rivers other than the Arkansas. Thus, the Chamber felt that the federal government was ignoring Arkansas’ need for a river supporting industrial and agricultural development. In its petition to the federal government, the Chamber outlined the need for flood control and development of hydroelectric power and navigation on the river.
Chamber efforts concerning river navigation finally paid off with completion of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System in the mid 1970s. In the 1930s, Ed Penick, chair in 1964, recalls that in the 1930s river navigation “was a big joke.” He reminisces about a 1936 canoe float trip down the river from Conway to Little Rock during which, “we walked most of the way [because] there was about half-knee deep water.” He says people thought “it would be a whole lot cheaper to pave [the river] than to make it navigable by water.” However the Chamber’s persistence made possible “this very important navigable stream running right through the middle of the heartland that only cost about two billion dollars.”
After river navigation became reality Chamber goals shifted. Today the Chamber’s concerns lie in industrial development along the river, controlling pollution, and promoting recreation. The Arkansas Basin Association, working closely with the Chamber, provides a strong grass roots organization that cooperates with many government agencies and other national organizations to ensure a bright future for the Arkansas River. The Chamber, with its involvement in river development, paved the way for Little Rock’s future as a river port, which also highlighted the Chamber’s cooperation with other agencies to accomplish its goals.
Transportation issues expanded in the early 1900s to include automobiles and interstate travel. The Chamber’s efforts to improve roads began early, as Arkansas’ roads desperately needed repair. As early as 1880 the Chamber desired improved connections between areas of Arkansas. The Chamber supported an effort in that year to build a wagon road from Harrison to Russellville. A Chamber resolution noted that such a road was in the best interests of communication and trade, and the road was a step toward tying outlying areas of Arkansas closer to the capital. With the advent of mass produced cars and trucks in the 1920s and 1930s, the popularity of automobiles grew. In 1920, the United States had only three million miles of roads, and many of these were of poor quality. By 1950, however, the idea of an interstate network was forming and, by 1987, 42,500 miles of interstates connected cities and regions nationwide. The Chamber’s involvement in road issues from the 1880s to the present helped to shape Arkansas’ highway system.
Chamber involvement with road concerns grew over time. The Chamber often previewed bills before the state legislature debated them and expressed its non-support or approval. In a special meeting, the Chamber decided that a committee should continually monitor road bills considered by the legislature in order to make recommendations that that the Chamber believed were in the best interests of the city. In 1920 the Chamber supported road bills affecting Pulaski County. These bills included authorization of work on the Arkansas-Missouri Highway. During this time of prosperity, the Chamber also expressed disapproval of new road taxes and special improvement districts. By 1929, the Chamber reported even more success as its investigations curtailed expenses in the building of the Little Rock and Hot Springs Highway and saved taxpayers at least $400,000.
Despite road progress, the Chamber remained concerned about road conditions. In 1934, suffering from the effects of the Great Depression, the Chamber discussed the effects of the loss of a three-mill road tax. According to the Chamber, serious depreciation of existing roads occurred and no permanent construction took place. The Chamber supported another two-year road tax in that year. It believed that lack of money meant higher taxes and more expensive road repairs in the future.
The Chamber’s vision supported allowing states to regulate their own traffic flow because of the various types of roads in use. Federal regulations, especially those governing maximum weight and size, it believed, would overlook the different needs of every state. Some supervision should occur, but the Chamber thought this could be accomplished through a division of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The Chamber’s concerns also covered the construction of state highways and city streets. One such construction activity, extending over a number of years, was outlined in the Lochner Plan. This plan provided for financing, road improvements, and construction of city streets in Little Rock. A 1949 Chamber study underscored the need for road improvements as it found that about 35,700 vehicles entered and left the Little Rock area everyday, thus, the Chamber urged Pulaski County citizens to support a bond issue for the Lochner Plan. The Chamber also recommended that the Arkansas State Highway Commission study road needs in Pulaski County and prepare a plan for interstate construction.
The Chamber continued to be proactive about road improvements in the 1950s. It cooperated with the governor and Highway Commission to further its vision. Moreover, it reported success in the start of construction on the Little Rock-Benton highway. The Chamber pressed for action on the Lochner Plan and successfully addressed the concerns of the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN). ACORN represented local neighborhoods’ concerns that the South Main Overpass project would destroy their community. The Chamber also sought cooperation with more citizens’ groups as it urged the Pulaski County Citizen’s Council to participate in calling for new projects. The organization became more proactive throughout the 1950s, and, in 1956, voiced its opinion that the federal government should bear the primary responsibility for financing the interstate highway system. The Chamber saw its role as encouraging road construction as well as taking a stand on issues it felt would adversely affect its goals.
The Chamber’s action on road issues continued into the 1970s with the Wilbur D. Mills Expressway, or I-630. This project began around 1958. The business community and the Chamber realized the need for a vehicular artery through Little Rock. They saw the artery as vital to Little Rock’s continued growth. In addition to I-630, the group supported construction projects that eased traffic flow problems as the city expanded, such as the East Belt Freeway.
Despite the Chamber’s proactive role in freeway development, some projects languished. In 1983, the newspaper reported the final contract lease for construction on I-630. ACORN’s concerned opposition delayed this project’s completion at least ten years. In addition to the completion of I-630, in 1984 the Chamber continued to call for road improvements. Arkansas, to an extent, still retains a reputation for poor roads. However, the Chamber seeks to dispel this perception by continuing its quest for development of better road systems.
The Chamber’s marketing of Little Rock as an ideal area for industrial growth also included the Little Rock National Airport’s role in transportation. A new era for aviation started in 1927 with Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight from New York to Paris, and visionaries like the Chamber realized the growing attractions and possibilities of air travel and transport. The U.S. War Department built the airport, originally named Adams Field, in 1917. The Chamber unofficially oversaw the airport’s development starting in the 1930s as it expanded acreage and air services. The Chamber supported airport development realizing reliable air service was instrumental to attracting industry to the greater Little Rock area.
In 1933, the airport had facilities barely adequate to land a plane. In fact, in that year the Chamber endorsed Little Rock’s application for $69,000 for construction of an administration building and two hangars at the airport. Aside from these needs the airport also lacked good drainage and a runway long enough to land large planes. In 1935, the Chamber’s Aeronautical Committee found itself mediating between the airport and surrounding residents. The problematic issue was the closing of 17th Street, which ran through airport grounds and provided access to surrounding neighborhoods. The Chamber took a firm stand in supporting the road’s closing, but also worked with surrounding neighborhoods to assure them access to the area.
In 1940 the airport still dealt with unpaved runways too short for landing heavy planes. The Chamber discussed the need for an east-west runway of at least 3500 feet. Little Rock, with federal aid, needed about $50,000 for such a project, but rent paid by the airlines would eventually repay the city. Despite inadequate runways, services continued to expand, and in 1949 a commission form of management and control was established.
The Chamber’s airport involvement continued into the 1950s. In 1951 the Aeronautics Committee sent a representative to public hearings on airline applications for the airport in order to inform the Chamber membership on the developments. Moreover, the Chamber supported the Airport Commission in its difficult effort to obtain right-of-ways for further runway extensions.
The Chamber, in its efforts to promote airport improvements, addressed larger, nation-wide contexts of air transport trends. The Chamber defended its interests before the Civil Aeronautics Board to expand services to the area. The Civil Aeronautics Board denied Braniff Airlines permission to fly a direct service north and south through Little Rock. North-south service was important because it connected Little Rock with areas like St. Louis, Chicago, and New Orleans. This issue was also important because it could pave the way for other suspensions of airline services to Little Rock. The Chamber and several local businesses prepared letters and submitted them before the Civil Aeronautic Board as testimony of the importance of airline services.
Chamber commitment to airport improvements continued into the 1980s and 1990s. In 1980 the Chamber’s Aviation Committee formed cooperative relationships with airline representatives and worked with them to improve air service and flight scheduling despite the effects of deregulation. As Jerry Maulden points out, the Chamber and the airport still struggle with the challenges of deregulation. He states, “Prior to deregulation we had direct flights out of Little Rock to New York and a number of other places…Now you have to fly from Little Rock to Atlanta, Memphis, Dallas, or St. Louis…and change planes and fly on to where you are going.”
Despite the challenges of attracting business to an area with few direct flights, the Chamber recognized the value of the airport and continues to work toward airport goals. In 1995, Little Rock Regional Airport became Little Rock National Airport, reflecting its role as Arkansas’ major air gateway. In 1935, the airport was valued at $300,000. Today its value is about $159.6 million. Runway extensions, new runway construction, and parking additions are just a few of the airport’s plans for the future. The airport system employs more than 3500 people with an annual payroll of about $40 million. Little Rock National Airport is a success story to which the Chamber’s vision and foresight contributed. A focus on transportation, including railroads, the Arkansas River, interstates, and the Little Rock National Airport is part of the Chamber’s long legacy of contributions to the successful development of Little Rock into a major city.