Symmes Monument

Symmes Monument. Hollow Earth Theory. - “I declare the earth is hollow and habitable within,” said John Cleves Symmes in summarizing his “Theory of Concentric Spheres and Solar Voids” to a doubting scientific world in the early 1820’s. His theory is commemorated by this monument, topped by a replica of a hollow earth. Symmes believed plant and animal life existed within the opening of the hollow earth. The opening was called the Symmes Hole. The former army officer tried to persuade the U.S. Congress to finance hollow – earth exploration. After an exhaustive lecture tour on behalf of his theory, Symmes died May 29, 1829, on his Butler County farm. He was buried here in the pioneer Hamilton cemetery, which Israel Ludlow had provided when he laid out the town in the 1790’s. The theorist was the nephew of Judge John Cleves Symmes (1741- 1814), who promoted settlement in this region after buying land north of the Ohio River between the Little Miami and Great Miami rivers. When Greenwood Cemetery was created north of Hamilton in 1848, many of the remains in the Hamilton graveyard were removed to the new cemetery, but Symmes body remained in its original location. In 1873, his son, Americus Symmes, obtained permission to erect a monument in the Fourth Ward park. A $16,000 renovation, commissioned by Historic Hamilton Inc., was completed in 1991.