Monte Ne: Coin Harvey And His Unfulfilled Dream
By Chuck Red - From the Rogers Daily Democrat, Week of October 5 thru October 12, 1980 (Now the NWA Democrat Gazette)
By Chuck Red - From the Rogers Daily Democrat, Week of October 5 thru October 12, 1980 (Now the NWA Democrat Gazette)
The waters of Monte Ne rolled against the rocky banks. Houses are scattered across the rolling hillsides. Monte Ne appears to be just another mountain hamlet.
The exception is the strange, deserted concrete structure standing three stories tall, weathered and covered with graffitti; messages scrawled on top of messages from years past.
The three-story building, just off Highway 94 is one of the few visual reminders of Coin Harvey, the man who began the community at the turn of this [the 20th] century.
Who was Coin Harvey? Some considered him a prophet/philosopher who lived before his time. Others said he was a dreamer. Others called him crazy.
Harvey was convinced that the world as he knew it "would soon perish."
"Surely civilization must perish," he prophesied in his pre-depression writings. "Usury can only lead to financial ruin."
Harvey was born William Hope Harvey in Buffalo, Va., in 1851. He moved to Gallipolis, Ohio, in 1873, where he practiced law and met his Anna Halliday; whom he married.
On his way to California in 1883, he stopped in Colorado and became intrigued with the silver mining of the region. He began his own mining operation -- The Siver Bell -- and in its three-year life span it was the second largest producer in the area. But costs of transportation increased and good help was getting harder to find, so Harvey grew discouraged and abandoned the project.
In 1886, he opened a real estate office in Denver. He soon tired of that venture and opened a gigantic "Palace of Minerals" in Pueblo in 1889. The Palace was devoted to promote the ores of the region.
Tiring of that, he returned to Chicago and established Coin Publishing Company, to publish his writings.
At the turn of the century, Harvey, 49, came to Rogers, looking for real estate. He planned to build a shrine for his dying civilization. Harvey bought 320 acres of land from the Rev. J. G. Bailey in the Silver Springs community, and renamed it Monte Ne, Spanish for "mountains of water."
Harvey and his family moved into the old Bailey place, and within a year it burned to the ground. Anna had grown tired of his rambling and his failures. She took their two daughters Maria Hope and Annette, and left Harvey and the two boys, Robert Halliday and Thomas William, behind.
The exception is the strange, deserted concrete structure standing three stories tall, weathered and covered with graffitti; messages scrawled on top of messages from years past.
The three-story building, just off Highway 94 is one of the few visual reminders of Coin Harvey, the man who began the community at the turn of this [the 20th] century.
Who was Coin Harvey? Some considered him a prophet/philosopher who lived before his time. Others said he was a dreamer. Others called him crazy.
Harvey was convinced that the world as he knew it "would soon perish."
"Surely civilization must perish," he prophesied in his pre-depression writings. "Usury can only lead to financial ruin."
Harvey was born William Hope Harvey in Buffalo, Va., in 1851. He moved to Gallipolis, Ohio, in 1873, where he practiced law and met his Anna Halliday; whom he married.
On his way to California in 1883, he stopped in Colorado and became intrigued with the silver mining of the region. He began his own mining operation -- The Siver Bell -- and in its three-year life span it was the second largest producer in the area. But costs of transportation increased and good help was getting harder to find, so Harvey grew discouraged and abandoned the project.
In 1886, he opened a real estate office in Denver. He soon tired of that venture and opened a gigantic "Palace of Minerals" in Pueblo in 1889. The Palace was devoted to promote the ores of the region.
Tiring of that, he returned to Chicago and established Coin Publishing Company, to publish his writings.
At the turn of the century, Harvey, 49, came to Rogers, looking for real estate. He planned to build a shrine for his dying civilization. Harvey bought 320 acres of land from the Rev. J. G. Bailey in the Silver Springs community, and renamed it Monte Ne, Spanish for "mountains of water."
Harvey and his family moved into the old Bailey place, and within a year it burned to the ground. Anna had grown tired of his rambling and his failures. She took their two daughters Maria Hope and Annette, and left Harvey and the two boys, Robert Halliday and Thomas William, behind.
Willian Hope "Coin " Harvey
Harvey continued with his plans. In 1901 he formed the Monte Ne Interest Company, with a capital stock of $100,000. In the same year he constructed the Hotel Monte Ne.
He built a private railroad for his resort in 1902, at a cost of $25,000. Tom Harvey, his youngest son, was the engineer. On June 18 of that year, the first train rolled into Monte Ne. It carried William Jennings Bryan, Harvey's friend and a presidential hopeful. Jennings gave a lecture for the townfolk, and the enterprising Harvey charged 50 cents admission.
Tom Harvey also edited the Monte Ne Herald, born on April 14, 1904. The first issue concentrated primarily on the plans for construction of four log and concrete cottages, to be called Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana Rows. Plans were made to build another hotel that would be 320 feet long and four stories high. The same year Harvey organized a mercantile store and later ran for Congress. He got nowhere.
The first of the "rows," Missouri Row, a 300-foot-long log and concrete structure with a red tile roof, was built in 1906. Oklahoma Row, a duplicate of Missouri with a few exceptions, was constructed in 1909. The north end of Oklahoma Row held a massive dining room, and one side held an orchestra loft. Both buildings had basements in which the servants were housed. The central part of each contained a tower. Combined, there were 42 rooms, each with a private fireplace. Harvey also built a golf course, dance pavillion, auditorium, and an enclosed swimming pool. He constructed a lagoon and imported a gondola and two Italian gondoliers from Venice.
He built a private railroad for his resort in 1902, at a cost of $25,000. Tom Harvey, his youngest son, was the engineer. On June 18 of that year, the first train rolled into Monte Ne. It carried William Jennings Bryan, Harvey's friend and a presidential hopeful. Jennings gave a lecture for the townfolk, and the enterprising Harvey charged 50 cents admission.
Tom Harvey also edited the Monte Ne Herald, born on April 14, 1904. The first issue concentrated primarily on the plans for construction of four log and concrete cottages, to be called Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana Rows. Plans were made to build another hotel that would be 320 feet long and four stories high. The same year Harvey organized a mercantile store and later ran for Congress. He got nowhere.
The first of the "rows," Missouri Row, a 300-foot-long log and concrete structure with a red tile roof, was built in 1906. Oklahoma Row, a duplicate of Missouri with a few exceptions, was constructed in 1909. The north end of Oklahoma Row held a massive dining room, and one side held an orchestra loft. Both buildings had basements in which the servants were housed. The central part of each contained a tower. Combined, there were 42 rooms, each with a private fireplace. Harvey also built a golf course, dance pavillion, auditorium, and an enclosed swimming pool. He constructed a lagoon and imported a gondola and two Italian gondoliers from Venice.
The top photo is a postcard of Missouri Row. The lower postcard is of Oklahoma Row, and both images are of Monte Ne in its heyday.
Harvey wrote about the pyramid he planned to build to preserve samples of his generation's history for future civilizations in his book "Common Sense", a book patterned after Thomas Paine's 18th century work of the same name. Harvey planned to place a copy of his book in the pyramid.
He had studied the Geology of the Ozark mountains to learn how they might affect his pyramid. In "Common Sense" he concluded that these mountains were the safest place to build his pyramid.
Harvey laid a solid concrete base for the structure in 1926 and built his replica of a Roman amphitheater around it. He thought the pyramid would cost $100,000 to build, and described its dimensions, as he had it planned, in some of his writings:
"The pyramid will be 40 feet square for 10 feet high, then reduced to 32 feet squae, then reduce to 22 feet, rising in shaft-like formation for 85 feet, ending at the top at six square feet. In the part 32 feet square there will be a 16-foot square room, surrounded by an eight-foot thick wall."
He planned to place two vaults in the shaft-like formation. In these vaults, he planned to place things from his generation that the average family came in contact with: an automobile and victrola, a set of encyclopedias, a needle and thread, pictures of people and animals from the community, and copies of all his works, including "Common Sense", "Coin's "Financial School" and "Coin On Money, Trusts, and Imperialism". He also planned to include a "key" to the English language to be used for translation.
Harvey estimated the construction would require 18,000 sacks of cement, 30,000 cubic feet of sand, 60,000 cubic feet of gravel, and tons of "corrugated steel reinforcement."
He had studied the Geology of the Ozark mountains to learn how they might affect his pyramid. In "Common Sense" he concluded that these mountains were the safest place to build his pyramid.
Harvey laid a solid concrete base for the structure in 1926 and built his replica of a Roman amphitheater around it. He thought the pyramid would cost $100,000 to build, and described its dimensions, as he had it planned, in some of his writings:
"The pyramid will be 40 feet square for 10 feet high, then reduced to 32 feet squae, then reduce to 22 feet, rising in shaft-like formation for 85 feet, ending at the top at six square feet. In the part 32 feet square there will be a 16-foot square room, surrounded by an eight-foot thick wall."
He planned to place two vaults in the shaft-like formation. In these vaults, he planned to place things from his generation that the average family came in contact with: an automobile and victrola, a set of encyclopedias, a needle and thread, pictures of people and animals from the community, and copies of all his works, including "Common Sense", "Coin's "Financial School" and "Coin On Money, Trusts, and Imperialism". He also planned to include a "key" to the English language to be used for translation.
Harvey estimated the construction would require 18,000 sacks of cement, 30,000 cubic feet of sand, 60,000 cubic feet of gravel, and tons of "corrugated steel reinforcement."
This is an image of what his pyramid was supposed to look like when it was complete.
He made it clear to his peers that "the name of no one is to be entombed" in the pyramid and " the name of no one is to appear on the outside." Harvey planned to place a metal plate on the top of the shaft, inscribed with "When this can be read, go below and find a record of and the cause of the death of a former civilization."
Harvey believed destruction of the world as he knew it would be the fault of big business. He wrote in one of his last pamphlets:
"Trust, monopolies, and compinations are fleecing the people, fixing the prices low for the producer and high to the consumer -- thus forcing the people to mortgage and band themselves to keep civilization functioning. There is no undiscovered country to which to flee. Truth and falsehood, good and evil, God and Satan, are face to face in all the world in a deadly conflict. It is the same crisis that came to other civilizations that went down."
But Harvey had to abandon his plans to build his pyramid. He got caught in the middle of the Great Depression, and money was tight. He had already spent most of his own money on his resort, and he was unable to borrow.
So he put the dreams of building his pyramid aside, at least for awhile. He continued to write while living at Monte Ne: "The Remedy", "The Book" and "Paul's School of Statemanship".
In "The Book" he outlined the platform of the newly organized Liberty Party.
A meeting was held at Harvey's amphitheater in 1931 on Aug. 25. Representing the newly formed Liberty Party, 786 delegates from 25 states chose their presidential candidate. Coin Harvey!
Harvey, then 80, at first declined. Then he decided he stood a good chance, so he accepted. His opponents were Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover.
Harvey didn't carry his home state, receiving only 1,049 votes. He did carry a majority of Washington D.C., with 30,208 votes. He received a total of 53,425 votes nationwide.
Coin Harvey had his share of misfortunes. His home had burned to the ground, and his first wife left him. His oldest son, Robert Halliday Harvey, 24, was killed in a train accident in Hugo, Ok. Harvey only succeeded in building two of his "rows", the amphitheater and one hotel. The pyramid was a lost dream.
Harvey died of intestinal influenza at his home on Feb. 11, 1936. The community knew Harvey planned to be buried in the same concrete tomb as his son. The tomb was unsealed and Harvey's casket, along with a hermetically sealed glass container containing some of his books and papers, were lowered into the tomb. It was then resealed.
What kind of man was Harvey?
After all these years, information remains sketchy. But one Monte Ne resident who served as Harvey's secretary in later years described him and his typical working day as thus:
"Mr. Harvey made his first appearance of the day outside his bedroom at breakfast. He was always neat and fully dressed. He was not sociable. He didn't join a conversation unless asked a direct question.
"For breakfast, he always had a dish of prunes, and often there was a saucer by his place containing two or three slices of Limburger cheese.
"Work in the office, which was in a separate building from the main house, began at 8 a.m. One of my first jobs of the day was to read the mail, especially the newspapers, to him since he couldn't see well enough to read them himself.
"The same procedure was always followed. I read the headline of a news item, then the sub-title, then the first paragraph, and on down until he stopped me. He usually had the gist of an item by the end of the first paragraph.
"He wasn't hard to work for. Much of the office work was addressing and stuffing envelopes. The addressing had to be done by hand. We also filled orders for copies of his books and periodicals. The day at the office ended around six. After supper, Mr. Harvey disappeared into his bedroom, and the rest of us went into the living room.
"He wasn't a tall man. He was fairly thin, and had gray hair and a moustache. He was withdrawn, deep in his own thoughts, and egotisitcal. He was sometimes described as a dreamer, which he was, but he was not out of touch with reality. I think he was a smart man.
"These are my impressions, and someone else might remember him differently. But I would say, he was our friend."
Monte Ne has changed over the years. In the 1950s, W. T. McWhorter bought Harvey's house and turned it into an eating establishment, The Harvey House. Dallas Barrack bought Oklahoma Row in 1956, restored it, and used it for The Palace Art Gallery. The Monte Ne Post Office officially closed in 1967, and in 1972, the federal government took over.
The dam for Beaver Lake brought drastic changes. Harvey's tomb had to be moved, or it would fall beneath the waterline.
J. G. Gladden later purchased Oklahoma Row and moved it just up the road to his property, located just off Highway 94. He said the three-story concrete structure that remains was once Oklahoma Row's Honeymoon Suite,
Harvey's secretary, who asked that his name not be used, said none of the buildings of Harvey's lifetime, excluding Oklahoma Row and the old Honeymoon Suite, had survived. The federal government bulldozed the bank and The Harvey House.
Beaver Lake claimed what remained of the resort Harvey loved. During the dry season, part of Harvey's past tries to resurface. During the summer of 1978, the water level dropped very low and the entire amphitheater was above water. Curious sightseeers flocked to it to marvel at the dead man's dreams.
During the summer of 1979 only a couple of feet of the structure was visible.
The street closest to the shoreline is named Pyramid Drive, and a few of the streets are named after Harvey's friends, such as Graham Drive, named after one-time Monte Ne postmaster Berry Graham.
The old Honeymoon Suite stands against the cold winds off Beaver Lake. It's been a long time since the fireplaces inside held a fire, keeping the visitors warm. On a previous visit by this reporter, busted whiskey, wine and beer bottles littered the floor. The reporter couldn't step in any direction without the sound of glass crunching beneath his feet.
But on his last visit, the reporter noticed something strange. Someone had swept all the chipped glass into neat little piles that lined the interior's walls.
Does the old Honeymoon Suite have a caretaker?
Harvey believed destruction of the world as he knew it would be the fault of big business. He wrote in one of his last pamphlets:
"Trust, monopolies, and compinations are fleecing the people, fixing the prices low for the producer and high to the consumer -- thus forcing the people to mortgage and band themselves to keep civilization functioning. There is no undiscovered country to which to flee. Truth and falsehood, good and evil, God and Satan, are face to face in all the world in a deadly conflict. It is the same crisis that came to other civilizations that went down."
But Harvey had to abandon his plans to build his pyramid. He got caught in the middle of the Great Depression, and money was tight. He had already spent most of his own money on his resort, and he was unable to borrow.
So he put the dreams of building his pyramid aside, at least for awhile. He continued to write while living at Monte Ne: "The Remedy", "The Book" and "Paul's School of Statemanship".
In "The Book" he outlined the platform of the newly organized Liberty Party.
A meeting was held at Harvey's amphitheater in 1931 on Aug. 25. Representing the newly formed Liberty Party, 786 delegates from 25 states chose their presidential candidate. Coin Harvey!
Harvey, then 80, at first declined. Then he decided he stood a good chance, so he accepted. His opponents were Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover.
Harvey didn't carry his home state, receiving only 1,049 votes. He did carry a majority of Washington D.C., with 30,208 votes. He received a total of 53,425 votes nationwide.
Coin Harvey had his share of misfortunes. His home had burned to the ground, and his first wife left him. His oldest son, Robert Halliday Harvey, 24, was killed in a train accident in Hugo, Ok. Harvey only succeeded in building two of his "rows", the amphitheater and one hotel. The pyramid was a lost dream.
Harvey died of intestinal influenza at his home on Feb. 11, 1936. The community knew Harvey planned to be buried in the same concrete tomb as his son. The tomb was unsealed and Harvey's casket, along with a hermetically sealed glass container containing some of his books and papers, were lowered into the tomb. It was then resealed.
What kind of man was Harvey?
After all these years, information remains sketchy. But one Monte Ne resident who served as Harvey's secretary in later years described him and his typical working day as thus:
"Mr. Harvey made his first appearance of the day outside his bedroom at breakfast. He was always neat and fully dressed. He was not sociable. He didn't join a conversation unless asked a direct question.
"For breakfast, he always had a dish of prunes, and often there was a saucer by his place containing two or three slices of Limburger cheese.
"Work in the office, which was in a separate building from the main house, began at 8 a.m. One of my first jobs of the day was to read the mail, especially the newspapers, to him since he couldn't see well enough to read them himself.
"The same procedure was always followed. I read the headline of a news item, then the sub-title, then the first paragraph, and on down until he stopped me. He usually had the gist of an item by the end of the first paragraph.
"He wasn't hard to work for. Much of the office work was addressing and stuffing envelopes. The addressing had to be done by hand. We also filled orders for copies of his books and periodicals. The day at the office ended around six. After supper, Mr. Harvey disappeared into his bedroom, and the rest of us went into the living room.
"He wasn't a tall man. He was fairly thin, and had gray hair and a moustache. He was withdrawn, deep in his own thoughts, and egotisitcal. He was sometimes described as a dreamer, which he was, but he was not out of touch with reality. I think he was a smart man.
"These are my impressions, and someone else might remember him differently. But I would say, he was our friend."
Monte Ne has changed over the years. In the 1950s, W. T. McWhorter bought Harvey's house and turned it into an eating establishment, The Harvey House. Dallas Barrack bought Oklahoma Row in 1956, restored it, and used it for The Palace Art Gallery. The Monte Ne Post Office officially closed in 1967, and in 1972, the federal government took over.
The dam for Beaver Lake brought drastic changes. Harvey's tomb had to be moved, or it would fall beneath the waterline.
J. G. Gladden later purchased Oklahoma Row and moved it just up the road to his property, located just off Highway 94. He said the three-story concrete structure that remains was once Oklahoma Row's Honeymoon Suite,
Harvey's secretary, who asked that his name not be used, said none of the buildings of Harvey's lifetime, excluding Oklahoma Row and the old Honeymoon Suite, had survived. The federal government bulldozed the bank and The Harvey House.
Beaver Lake claimed what remained of the resort Harvey loved. During the dry season, part of Harvey's past tries to resurface. During the summer of 1978, the water level dropped very low and the entire amphitheater was above water. Curious sightseeers flocked to it to marvel at the dead man's dreams.
During the summer of 1979 only a couple of feet of the structure was visible.
The street closest to the shoreline is named Pyramid Drive, and a few of the streets are named after Harvey's friends, such as Graham Drive, named after one-time Monte Ne postmaster Berry Graham.
The old Honeymoon Suite stands against the cold winds off Beaver Lake. It's been a long time since the fireplaces inside held a fire, keeping the visitors warm. On a previous visit by this reporter, busted whiskey, wine and beer bottles littered the floor. The reporter couldn't step in any direction without the sound of glass crunching beneath his feet.
But on his last visit, the reporter noticed something strange. Someone had swept all the chipped glass into neat little piles that lined the interior's walls.
Does the old Honeymoon Suite have a caretaker?