MONTE NE - BEAVER LAKE

Here is a story about a most interesting place i found in the Ozark mountains in NE Arkansas. The town is called Monte Ne ( prounounced Montenay) and is located on Beaver Lake not to far from Bentonville, home of Wal-mart. A very wild character named William "Coin" Harvey created this town starting in 1901. It featured two grand hotels, a bank, golf course, a roman amphitheather, and gondolas. Here is a picture of the original hotel, note the multi storey structure on the left of the photo. Another picture shows the original Amphitheather

When Beaver Lake was formed with the creation of the Beaver Dam, the entire town was submerged below the lake. Now the area is quite run down, lots of old shabby mobile home trailers, and no sign of its former grandeur. In the summer, when the water drops, you can walk in part of the amphitheather and enter the slave quarters below the hotel. The third picture above shows what is left of the hotel.

Inside, local artists have made their mark, it kind of has a Jimi Hendriks kind of feel, but you can still feel the luxury of the old place with fireplaces in every room, see the inside picture. I don't know what drew me to this place, but it was a powerful feeling to be there and look at the history. In any event it was very interesting to me and hopefully its story will be to you as well. Hope all is well in your life, Spanky and I say "life is good" Take care. Paul