Monte Ne
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Monte Ne
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The partially submerged Monte Ne Amphitheater
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| Location | Benton County, Arkansas, United States |
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| Nearest city | Rogers |
| Coordinates | 36°17′14″N 94°04′09″W / 36.28722°N 94.06917°WCoordinates: 36°17′14″N 94°04′09″W / 36.28722°N 94.06917°W |
| Area | 0.1 acres (0.040 ha) |
| Built | 1900–1920 |
| NRHP Reference # | 78000575 |
| Added to NRHP | February 17, 1978 |
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| Locale | Arkansas, Monte Ne and Lowell |
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| Dates of operation | 1902–1908 |
| Successor | Arkansas, Oklahoma & Western Railroad |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Headquarters | Monte Ne, Arkansas |
Monte Ne is an area in the Ozark hills of the White River valley east of Rogers on the edge of Beaver Lake in the U.S. state of Arkansas. From 1901 until the mid-1930s the area was a health resort and ambitious planned community. It was owned and operated by William Hope Harvey, a financial theorist and one-time U.S. Presidential nominee. Two of its hotels, "Missouri Row" and "Oklahoma Row", were the largest log buildings in the world. Oklahoma Row's "tower section" is one of the earliest examples of a multi-story concrete structure. The tower is the only structure of Monte Ne still standing that can be seen at normal lake levels. Monte Ne introduced the first indoor swimming pool in Arkansas, and was also the site of the only presidential convention ever held in Arkansas.
The Monte Ne resort was not a financial success, due in part to Harvey's management style. All ventures associated with Harvey's original Monte Ne concept either were never completed or experienced bankruptcy, and shortly after his death the property was sold off in lots. The remainder of the resort and town was almost completely submerged after Beaver Lake was created in 1964. All that remains today are foundations and one severely vandalized structure. The area on the edge of Beaver Lake that is still referred to as Monte Ne, is owned and managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and serves mainly as a boat ramp.
The area that would become Monte Ne was known to have had two establishments often considered essential to a pioneer settlement, a grist mill and a distillery. It is unknown when the distillery was built. It was owned in the 1830s by Abe McGarrah and his brother-in-law. They also operated a small store. The distillery's output each day was given as thirty gallons by the Federal whiskey gauger who resided in the area. The grist mill was built in 1856, and was owned by J.R. Pettigrew. It would later be owned by James Wyeth and Amelia Crowder Blake, the parents of Betty Blake, who is often referred to as the "Leading Lady" of Rogers, Arkansas, and who would also go on to marry entertainer Will Rogers. In 1875 the post office in the area changed its name from Mountain Springs to Pettigrew's Mill. The Blakes' owned the mill till 1882, when Mr. Blake died. The Mill was later operated by David Portnell from 1889 to 1895. He sold his interest in the mill to a retired Congregational minister J.G Bailey. Bailey would later become postmaster. He petitioned the Post Office Department to change the name of the office to Vinola in honor of a well-known vineyard that belonged to his neighbor, Carl A. Starek. The letter was written in longhand, and the o and l were spaced to close together. As a result, the clerk misread the name as "Vinda", which is how it was recorded. The area's name was later changed to Silver Springs. Bailey would sell 325 acres of land and a cabin to Harvey.
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