Since opening in 1937, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts has seen constant growth and evolution. Yet, the one thing that hasn’t changed is that the Museum has always called MacArthur Park home.
What is now Little Rock’s oldest municipal park, MacArthur Park began as a horse racetrack in the 1830s.
Following Arkansas’ statehood in 1836, the federal government authorized the first military post in Little Rock.
By 1837, the land that would become the park was purchased by the Department of War, and construction on the first permanent building of the military arsenal — the Tower Building — began in 1840.
But by 1863, the site was transitioned into housing quarters for soldiers before being decommissioned in 1890.
In 1892, Congressman William Terry arranged for the property to be returned to the city and redesigned as a public park. Arsenal Park was opened to the public on July 4, 1893.
Mostly used for picnics and baseball games, City Park — as it came to be known — continued to grow in scope.
During the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration completed several projects including a fishpond, the construction of the Bowen School of Law, and the original Museum of Fine Arts.
In 1942, the city renamed the park after General Douglas MacArthur, who was born at the arsenal in 1880, and at the time, commanded the Southwest Pacific Theatre in World War II.
Continuously developed and renovated, MacArthur Park features the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History in the original red brick Tower Building, a hostel in the old Fire House No. 2, Foster Pond, an inclusive playground, and dog park.
You will also find several monuments in the park, including the Korean War Veterans Memorial, dedicated in 2007, which features tablets engraved with the names of the 461 Arkansans killed in the war.
The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is part of this rich and diverse history of Little Rock’s MacArthur Park.
