Monte Ne - Before Harvey

Before Harvey

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. They 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.