LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it's easy to forget the past and the history that's gotten us to this point.
"It's important to remember history because that's how we got here," April Goff, president of the Early Arkansas Reenactors Association, said.
In her role as president of the organization, Goff knows the history of this area better than most people.
"We have to commemorate those events because it might have been a small event to them, but where would Little Rock be if they hadn't of done it," she said.
But not everyone knows that history. Just feet from the River Market is the reason we live in "Little Rock" rather than a city with a different name.
"French explorer Jean-Baptiste Bérnard de la Harpe came up the Arkansas River," Denver Peacock said.
Peacock is the chairman of the 'La Petite Roche Tricentennial Task Force,' a group that's near and dear to the history of the city.
300 years ago, Jean-Baptiste Bérnard de la Harpe "discovered" a small rock outcropping in the Arkansas River. He called it "La Petit Roche," or "The Little Rock," and the name has stuck.
"We want people to know where they're from, know their heritage and then they can pass that on to the next generation," Peacock said.
It wasn't the first known interaction with the area. The Quapaw Nation had been in the area since the 1500's.
This history is crucial to Little Rock and makes the city what it is.
That's part of Peacock's main objective-- his task force's goal is to promote the city's history, so everyone knows where it came from.
"All of us have been shaped and marked by what happened here," Peacock said. "Whether you're on the Little Rock side or the North Little Rock side or you live in Saline County or Faulkner County. You name it, you're all part of the Little Rock region."
That history is important and city leaders like Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. understand that.
"If you're not growing, you're not living," he said. "That's one reason why we have to keep growing together."
So while today was a celebration of the past, it's also a reminder to keep pushing to the future. There's more history to be written, just like those explorers did 300 years ago.
"We must continue to grow and as we continue to grow, we transform ourselves to a better identity, a better city. That's what it's all about," Mayor Scott said.