| The purpose of this study is to examine the development of historic districts in the United States and to then use the case study of Argenta to draw specific conclusions about the implementation and effectiveness of the historic district approach. The traditional history of most historic districts has been well-documented, but there are few studies of historic districts as unique objects. Making extensive use of primary sources, especially newspaper articles, this study traces the downtown North Little Rock area from the devastating impact of urban renewal in the 1960s and 1970s, crime in the 1980s and revival starting in the 1990s. This work advances basic scholarship and understanding of the historic district, of neighborhood and community development, and can be used to further the examination of historic districts as history in their own right, serve as a comparison for other similar historic areas, and further expand and improve the historic preservation activities for downtown North Little Rock, Arkansas. Argenta's origination history has already been well documented and this work only summarizes this period. This thesis focuses on Argenta's survival, historic district creation, and post-historic district designation periods to the present. |
