Lissa Myers' Monte Ne Photos

This is the woman behind the camera. She says her friend, Mandy, inspired her to do these photos and put the montage together. The Beaver Lake water level usually reaches the top of this wall, which is behind (south of) the amphitheater. Because of the severe drouth in Arkansas in 2005, the lake level dropped low enough (1105.7 feet above sea level) to reveal the base of this wall and the top three 'bench' levels of the amphitheater.

The amphitheater was built around the "Big Spring" that supplied water for the lagoon that led to Oklahoma Row, W. H. 'Coin' Harvey's log hotel. He claimed that Oklahoma Row was the biggest log building in the world. It was built on a point of land above and to the west of the main part of the town of Monte Ne, which Harvey developed in the early twentieth century. That was about a half mile north of this location. Harvey even built a rail line from Lowell, Arkansas, to a location near where Lissa is standing to bring tourists to his resort. The tourists had a choice of riding an Italian Swan Boat up the lagoon from the spring to Oklahoma Row or walking along the east bank of the lagoon to the hotel.

Oklahoma Row was on the east side of the north end of the lagoon. The large log structure was removed before the lake was filled but this three-story 'tower' was left standing. Old photo postcards show Oklahoma Row with the tower at the south end. The log structure was built on a concrete foundation which included basement rooms. The average lake level fills the basement rooms and occasionally high water levels reach the top of the foundation.

Lissa caught the early morning light at just the right time to get this artistic photo of a first floor room in the tower and then got this great foggy view through the windows out over the lake.

This small concrete structure seems to be a two-story fireplace of some sort. It is east of Oklahoma Row and closer to the Monte Ne town site. Several other foundation structures are further to the east and they may be associated with Missouri Row or the indoor swimming pool. In the early 1960s this area was so overgrown with brush and trees that these structures were not obvious to the casual visitor.

Unidentified tourists are sitting on the old foundation east of the chimney structure. The east bank of this part of Beaver Lake is in the distance. The next photo shows the foundation from the east side.

Now that Monte Ne has become such an attraction, one must arrive early to get a photo without the crowd. Back at the south end of the lagoon now, the wall that Lissa was standing by is in the center background behind the amphitheater. There once were two more columns at this end of the upper part of the amphitheater. The highest column, which formed this end of the upper wall, disappeared soon after the lake was filled in 1965. The second on down from the top (near the tree stump) was there at least until 1977.

There is evidence that the amphitheater was built sometime between 1926 and 1932 when Coin Harvey was a candidate for president.

These views from the east shore or from a boat give a different pespective on the amphitheater and the 'wall.'

Bouncing back to the north side, Lissa and her friend Mandy sit by the fireplace structure and finally Lissa poses at the amphitheater with the late afternoon winter sun behind her.

And finally on February 4, 2006, the three of us met at Monte Ne and posed for this photo on the second couch down from the top on the north end of the west wall of the amphitheater.

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.