PYRAMID PLACE - Key Persons

William Marmaduke Kavanaugh, a prominent Little Rock businessman, was the catalyst for making today's Pyramid Building a reality. Kavanaugh organized Southern Trust Co. in 1905 and a year later formed Southern Construction Co. to build the firm's namesake office building at the southeast corner of Second and Center streets. Construction started in spring 1906 and was complete in time for a New Year's Eve coming-out party in 1907. The open house reportedly drew thousands who began visiting the new landmark midafternoon and continued into the wee hours. The street, originally known as Prospect, was renamed Kavanaugh Boulevard in his honor in 1936.