Monte Ne

Monte Ne
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
"Oklahoma Row" Hotel in 1910
Monte Ne Show map of Arkansas Monte Ne Show map of the United States
Location	Benton County, Arkansas, United States
Nearest city	Rogers
Coordinates	36°17′14″N 94°04′09″W / 36.2872975°N 94.0690905°W / 36.2872975; -94.0690905[2]
Area	0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
Built	1900–1930
Built by	W. H. "Coin" Harvey
Architect	A. O. Clarke
NRHP reference No.	78000575[1]
Added to NRHP	February 2, 1978

Monte Ne was a health resort and planned community established and operated by William Hope Harvey from 1901 into the 1920s. It was located in a valley just east of the town of Rogers, Arkansas, though today its location is mostly under the waters of Beaver Lake. The resort consisted of several hotels, a lake, an indoor swimming pool, a golf course, tennis courts, bowling alleys, its own post office and bank, as well as a dedicated train line and an imported Italian gondola to conduct guests to the resort. In 1931 Monte Ne was the site of the only presidential convention ever held in the state.^[3]: 94

Despite Harvey's efforts to publicize his resort and draw both visitors and businesses, Monte Ne was not a financial success. By 1920 the rail line had been sold and abandoned, and the Monte Ne Bank closed. Given these setbacks, and Harvey's belief that civilization was doomed, he began to focus his efforts on building "The Pyramid", a 130 foot tall obelisk that would eventually contain books and objects that reflected human life in the 20th century, preserving them for future generations to discover. Harvey exhausted his funds constructing an elaborate amphitheater to serve as the pyramid's foundation, and the stock market crash of 1929 ended all hopes of raising the necessary money to build the pyramid.

By the time of Harvey's death in 1936, most of the resort's assets had been sold off. Some of the resort buildings were repurposed and continued to be used on and off until the 1960s, when the United States Army Corps of Engineers began construction of a dam on the White River, creating Beaver Lake. The lake flooded almost the entirety of the resort, with only the remnants of one hotel tower and some building foundations still regularly visible. This tower was demolished in February 2023 by the Corps of Engineers, citing ongoing vandalism and health hazards posed by the deteriorating structure. And yet, when Beaver Lake levels drop sufficiently, portions of the enigmatic amphitheater become visible again.