Coin Harvey's Monte Ne Resort - 2005/2006
The Retaining Wall and the Driveway
behind the Amphitheater

with a View from the Amphitheater toward the Old Town Site


The High Wall in Relation to Amphitheater

There is a high retaining wall behind the amphitheater. This view shows that the west wall of the amphitheater lines up with the north end of the high wall. The 'driveway' ends behind the amphitheater near the high wall. This view shows that there are steps from the west wall upper porch area to the sidewalk. These features will be familiar from the previous page. The top porch with the single drain hole is at the bottom of the photo with the bench in back. The sidewalk around the top wall takes one step down near the corner steps and then another step just past that. Further around there are two steps down. The intervals between the columns in the walls vary from place to place. The column in the lower center beside the two steps has now been knocked over and is lying in the little porch below. Apparently the crack at it base was a weak point.

The high wall was hidden in the brush back in 1961 and I was hesitant to explore back in there, so I don't have any photos of it from then. The next photo shows a fisherman fishing from the high wall in July or August 1966 when the lake level was about 1114 feet. The highest column on the north end of the west wall of the amphitheater was just visible at that level. There is another concrete structure across the lake that may not be there now. A house is visible up on the hill. The brush in the water follows the circle of the top wall of the amphitheater.

Fishing at High Wall

Amphitheater Point

This is the point of land that the amphitheater is built into as viewed from the area where there is access from the road. Vehicles are not allowed to drive along the shore below the normal water level or on private property. There is an area here where cars can be parked and then it's a hike over to the amphitheater. The high wall is on the right at the end of the point. When the lake level is a little above normal, the little hill becomes an island.

Louis at High Wall

Louis agreed to stand by the wall to provide the human perspective for size. The wall seems to be about eight feet high at the top of the columns and about fifty feet long. I estimate that the column tops are at about the 1117 to 1118-foot level. That's about three feet higher than the highest column around the top of the amphitheater.

The Driveway

This is a view down the driveway into the water. Several of the amphitheater features are visible including the two couches, the steps leading out of the amphitheater onto the driveway, and the porch roofs of the rooms under the water at center left. The irregular concrete of the driveway ends at a formed concrete structure visible on the right. Is it just a paved surface or is it the top of an underground room connecting to the underwater rooms in the south wall of the amphitheater?

The Wall Under Water

And finally another view of the wall from 1966.

View Northeast to old Town Site

This panoramic view of the old Monte Ne area from the amphitheater was taken from a position high on the little hill. The curve of the top wall of the amphitheater is visible, the tower is in the distance above the end of the amphitheater wall from this perspective, and the rubble of the old foundation are visible on the other shore as well as the new boat ramp.

Would the pyramid have looked like this?
Looking back at the amphitheater. Would the pyramid have looked like this?


And like this?
And would it have looked like this at a higher lake level?


Tower from High Perspective
A view of the tower from another perspective.

See bottom of this page for LINKS TO OTHER WEB SITES RELATED TO MONTE NE AND COIN HARVEY

THE INDEX OF PAGES FOR THIS ARTICLE
PAGE 1 - The story of Coin Harvey and Monte Ne with photos of the amphitheater.
PAGE 2 - Concrete Bank Block Building and Views of the Lagoon
PAGE 3 - Lodge, Burial Vault, and Photos with the Lake at Three Levels
PAGE 4 - 1977 Lake Level marked on Old Photos, Views into the Water, Checking the Time Capsule, Related Links
PAGE 5 - Lissa Myer's Current photos of the ruins at Monte Ne: the Tower Windows, old foundations, and crowds at the amphitheater.
PAGE 6 - 2005 Views of Oklahoma Row foundation and tower with a new summary of the events of William Hope "Coin" Harvey's involvement with his Monte Ne Resort and the good roads movement. This page includes many links to other informative web sites related to Coin Harvey and Monte Ne.
PAGE 7 - Photo and map of the old townsite with a panoramic photo of some of the foundation ruins on the lake shore and across the lake to the amphitheater. There is a photo that shows the new location of Harvey's tomb. The text includes some comments from a U.S. Corps of Engineers employee who toured the Monte Ne site for the Corps in the early 60s.
PAGE 8 - Coin Harvey's Amphitheater around the Big Spring at Monte Ne. Harvey planned this to be the foyer for his pyramid or obelisk in which he planned to place a "time capsule" or museum room to hold all the important documents and marvels of civilization. However, that was never to be because he was unable to obtain financing. The photos on this page show the upper parts of the amphitheater now exposed by the dropping waters of Beaver Lake. Old photos from before the lake was built and at other times when the lake was low are included for comparison.
PAGE 9 - This page continues the amphitheater description with the south wall. Most of the south wall is under water even with the lake level at 1106 feet above sea level. The south wall may have been the planned entrance to the pyramid and time capsule that Coin Harvey wanted to build. In any case, he probably planned to build the pyramid, or obelisk, on the little hill behind the amphitheater. That little hill is an island when the lake level gets to the 1120 to 1125 range as shown in the photo posted on the previous page.
PAGE 10 - On the side of the hill behind the south wall is a tall retaining wall. The area was so covered in brush in 1961 and I was so hesitant about the possibility of trespassing that I didn't find that wall. There is a paved driveway leading from the east of the amphitheater up to the area above the wall where the railroad depot used to be. There are also panoramice photos of the view from the amphitheater back toward the old Monte Ne town site.
PAGE 11 - Selected Monte Ne Resort photos from the Rogers Historical Museum used by permission. Photo of old Monte Ne in great detail. Photos of the Bank Block when new and years later after it had been gutted by fire or weather. Photos of the amphitheater from its unfinished construction in 1928 and when that part of Beaver Lake was dry in the winter of 1977.
PAGE 12 - 2006 Wedding in the Monte Ne amphitheater. First wedding there in more than 40 years? Photo of Ann in the amphitheater in 2006 compared to a similar photo from 1977.
PAGE 13 - Photos comparing the low lake level in January 2006 with the same areas in January 2007 after the lake level rose about 20 feet.


The Pyramid The Tower

Friends of Monte Ne!



Can the Friends of Monte Ne be reorganized now that there is such great interest in the lost resort? With proper organization, planning, and fund raising, some nice things could be done in the area by the Lake at old Monte Ne.

  1. The old Oklahoma Row foundation and adjoining area could be cleared and made into a picnic area.
  2. A 1/10th-scale model of Harvey's proposed "pyramid" could be built near the Oklahoma Row tower.
  3. The tower could be restored and a log entry room could be built where the Oklahoma Row used to connect to the tower. The room could serve as the entry to the tower and as a museum and gift shop.

It would help to have someone with connections to the local district of the Army Corps of Engineers, the State Parks Department, and maybe some of the local politicians.

If you're interested, e-mail me at jamesmskipper1141@att.net and I will pass it on to the interested people who live in the area.



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Historic Monte Ne CoverFor a definitive picture album/history of the resort at Monte Ne, purchase Allyn Lord's Historic Monte Ne published by Arcadia Publishing in its Images of America series.

Posted: 1/23/06