Kelly Syer
Monte Ne ruins in Rogers, Arkansas
I remember as a child hearing stories from my mom about the fascinating Ozark character and once presidential candidate Coin Harvey–and his attempt at building his own version of a utopian-like resort in Rogers, Arkansas. He eventually believed civilization was doomed and started creating a pyramid time capsule, but never completed it after going broke around the time of the stock market crash and Great Depression. Generations later most of it would be under water after the creation of Beaver Lake, though in dry spells some of the architectural ghosts become more visible and a source of adventure for the curious. I love that those stories haunted me as a child growing up in the Ozarks, and I enjoyed passing along the place and its lore to my own daughter. To me, this photo symbolizes what can be the fleeting nature of dreams…our impermanence. Pictured is a ruined portion of one of the old Monte Ne structures, victim to graffiti and the ravages of time–still standing for a few more generations, but with a disappearing story.