Thursday, July 24, 2008

William Hope "Coin" Harvey and Monte Ne


Here’s an interesting find that was sent to me earlier today. A very strange tale of one man’s descent from prominent possibilities to ultimate failure.

To say William Harvey lived an interesting life would be a major understatement. I won’t go into all the details, but apparently Harvey, a one time Presidential Nominee, lost his marbles after a long stretch of failures.



Part of his strange antics included the building of the Monte Ne resort, as well as a planned “Knowledge Pyramid” that future archaeologists would discover after the end of our civilization:

Harvey did some deep research into the history of the Ozark Mountains. He claimed that they were some of the oldest mountains in the world and definitely the oldest in the United States. They had been untouched by volcanoes and earthquakes. He believed that the mountains around Monte Ne would eventually crumble and fill the valley with silt and sediment. Figuring that the mountains were approximately 240 ft (73 m) high, Harvey planned to construct a massive concrete obelisk and its capstone would remain above the debris. Archaeologist in the distant future would be able to dig down and find the monument. He called the project "The Pyramid" and dedicated the rest of his life to its construction.

I find this to be an extremely interesting story. Also, there seems to be several remnants of his pyramid that still remain intact today.

We should plan a trip to Arkansas to visit this place. Anyone on board?

5 comments:

STUART! said...

Here are some pics of what is left of Monte Ne. These were actually taken in 2006 when the lake was low. Right now it comes up over the tower and I've heard you can actually dive off the tower into about 20 feet of water.

http://www.undergroundozarks.com/gallery/montene

The pyramid by the way was never built at all, only a retaining wall.

Mr. Xoom said...

Wow, Stuart. Great site! Gonna add you to the blog roll when I get back home. Don't know much about that area but things sure look interesting.

Maybe there's more down there for Xoom to look in to than just Monte Ne.

Nathan C. said...

I did my M.A. thesis in broadcast journalism on Coin Harvey and his resort of Monte Ne, Arkansas. If anyone is interested I made a documentary about his life and times. Please contact me at ncrowde@gmail.com I have copies available for $10

Kevin Wells said...

I live in Little Rock, I'll come!

Mr. Xoom said...

Kevin,

You really wanna go to Monte Ne?