MONTE NE -- The fact that Monte Ne is mostly underwater makes it even more of an elusively mysterious attraction than if its ruins were still mainly visible.
It's Arkansas' sunken city -- by no means as legendary as ancient Atlantis, but still a unique curiosity among Natural State allures. Most of it has lain since 1966 beneath the surface of Beaver Lake, which was created by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers damming. Although only a half-dozen miles southeast of downtown Rogers, it seems half a planet away.
Monte Ne was the creation of William Hope "Coin" Harvey, a visionary figure whose nickname reflected his advocacy for the unlimited coinage of silver. He played a major role in the failed 1896 presidential campaign of William Jennings Bryan, nominated by the Democrats after a famous speech that declared: "You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."
Disillusioned by politics, Harvey bought 320 acres near Rogers in 1901 and named the site Monte Ne. Here he built a resort that became a tourism magnet back when well-off vacationers typically traveled by train to stay for some time at a single location.
Harvey imported a gondola from Italy to ferry visitors from the rail depot to Hotel Monte Ne, the first of three lodgings built at the site. He advertised the resort as "the only place in America where a gondola meets the trains."
By 1910, Monte Ne had grown into a town with a post office, school and two-story bank. Harvey's resort boasted a golf course, tennis courts and the state's first indoor swimming pool. Activities were as varied as fiddling contests and fox hunts.
After World War I, as Monte Ne declined in popularity, Harvey believed that the fall of civilization was coming soon. According to a brochure available at Rogers Historical Museum, "he wanted to leave an explanation and warning for the future" by building a 130-foot-tall obelisk he called the Pyramid to house a message for future generations.
However, Harvey's money ran out and much of the resort went into foreclosure in 1927. Only an amphitheater that would have accompanied the pyramid was built. Remains of the amphitheater can be seen when lake levels are low.
In 1932 at age 80, Harvey ran for president under the banner of the Liberty Party he had formed. Franklin D. Roosevelt won the presidency in a landslide, while Harvey finished fifth with some 54,000 votes nationally. He died at Monte Ne in 1936. Before Beaver Lake flooded the former resort, his tomb was moved up a hillside.
On a mid-March stop, Monte Ne's most visible structure was a three-story tower from the Oklahoma Row Hotel. Heavily scarred by graffiti, the tower is said to have been one of the earliest examples in Arkansas of reinforced concrete construction.
Near the tower, a fisherman was wading near the Beaver Lake shoreline in front of concrete remains from the same hotel, probably basement storage areas. Farther along, visitors could have spotted a fireplace from the Missouri Row Hotel sheltered in the woods.
At most, Coin Harvey's 2017 presence was ghostly. But a comment in Rogers Historical Museum's information material did resonate: "Whether you see him as an eccentric crank or a farsighted idealist, or a bit of both, Harvey assuredly was one of the most interesting characters in Arkansas history."
Two brochures with Monte Ne information, including a map, are available at Rogers Historical Museum, 322 S. Second St., Rogers. For details, visit rogersarkansas.com/museum or call (479) 621-1154.
Weekend on 04/27/2017