This historical marker monument is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Science & Medicine • War of 1812. Symmes’ Hollow Earth Theory posits exactly what it sounds like: that the Earth is in fact hollow. In the 17th century, some of the leading scientific minds of the time came up with a new theory—that the planet is actually hollow. In Hamilton, at least, there are holes at the ends of the earth - atop the Symmes memorial statue, in a park located between Third and Fourth Streets. Outside, modern contradictions. The Hollow Earth Monument is in the middle of the playground, surrounded by a tall fence. Hollow Earth 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 1920’s. Location: Symmes Park Playground Near the intersection of Sycamore Street and 4th Street Hamilton, OH 45011 Fort Erie. John Cleves Symmes,Jr. Both Teed and Symmes still have monuments dedicated to their work and beliefs. After he died in 1829 his son erected a monument to him, topped by a globe with hole through its middle. John Cleves Symmes entered the Army of the U.S. as an Ensign in the year 1802. The theory that the Earth was hollow came and went pretty fast back in the 1800s. A bronze monument to the infamous radio broadcast in the real New Jersey town where the fictional Martians crash-landed. No, but there is a Hollow Earth monument dedicated to this scientific theory. “It has a perfect temperature. The fourth (and largest) plaque, describes the restoration of the monument. Hollow Earth Monument. Near the intersection of Sycamore Street and 4th Street There are four (4) bronze plaques added to the original stone obelisk. It is home of the Hollow Earth Monument in Symmes Park. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. If Cluff’s theories are correct, the Hollow Earth could look something like this. Ancient legend states the creatures living in our Earth refers to we humans, as their dumb cousins. The 1892 novel, The Goddess of Atvatabar, or The History of the Discovery of the Interior World, used Symmes’ model as a basis for a tale of a rich interior world inhabited by a race of spiritually enlightened beings. Among most believers, the inside of the Hollow Earth is a lush tropical paradise that very likely houses an advanced race of humans/aliens/giants. From time immemorial, people have believed that there is another world lying just beneath the surface of our planet. Even after Symmes’ death his idea continued to thrive amongst believers. 1, that the inside of the Earth would be “stocked with thrifty vegetables and animals if not men.” Symmes believed that his theory was not science fiction, but science fact, and that it applied not only to the Earth, but too all planetary bodies. It is home of the Hollow Earth Monument in Symmes Park. They made a deal with the people in the Hollow Earth.”). He contended that the Earth . Unfortunately the government did not share Symmes’ sense of wonder and the grant was voted down. Spheres and Polar voids.’ . He proposed making an expedition to the North Pole hole, thanks to efforts of one of his followers, James McBride, but the new President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, halted the attempt. In his estimation, based on readings of the magnetic field and what he knew of the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon on the Earth, this model could account for any inaccuracies in his readings of the magnetic fields of the planet. Due to the spread of COVID-19, some points of interest may be closed or have restrictions. Possibly the first person to scientifically speculate about a hollow earth was none other than Edmund Halley, of Halley’s Comet fame. No matter where they come from, they are generally characterized as peace-loving, and advanced far beyond our own. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. Giants, Germans, and Paradise all await within the Hollow Earth. [Kitsa, 12/29/2016] Monument to a Hollow Earther Capt. Capt. He went even further in our phone conversation: half the planet is taken up by surface weight, and then there’s empty space, and then, something else. 1 (Image: John Cleves Symmes, Jr/Wikipedia). Even today, there is a small cadre of Hollow Earth believers who are fighting valiantly to validate their ideas through books, websites, meetings and some extremely ambitious travel plans. (Image: Wikipedia). It's just a monument. Theories come and theories go. Symmes Park Playground He believed in nearly the same way Dr. Bernard except for his "Concentric Ring" explanation. Each contains the text of one of the original carvings. This giant Canadian coin is a monument to the artist who created its iconic emblem. He too believed that the interior of the Earth not only could, but did support life, saying in Circular No. After the rigors of the lecture circuit took their toll, Symmes retired to Hamilton, Ohio where he would eventually pass away in 1829. Appropriately, a hollow earth made of granite beckons from atop the memorial. The Hollow Earth Monument. Proposed in 1692 as a way of explaining anomalous compass readings, Halley’s theory is that the planet is a series of nested, spherical shells, spinning in different directions, all surrounding a central core. Even in the 19th century, Symmes’ theories were greeted with derision from the public and scientific community, but he would not be silenced. as an Ensign But most of these early beliefs were metaphorical or mythological in origin. Through the mid-2000s and into the early 2010s, Cluff was actually a part of a long-gestating expedition known most recently as the North Pole Inner Earth Expedition. Inside, ancient treasures. While Jules Verne may have been the most famous writer to expound on the concept that the Earth is hollow, Journey to the Center of the Earth was explicitly a work of fiction. in the year 1802. But not everyone is convinced. Hamilton, Many of these stories used the theories of Halley and Symmes as jumping off points for tales of weird prehistoric jungles and highly advanced, lost races of humans. James McBride, who was his devoted friend and disciple, published a small volume in 1826 in exposition and defense of his theory, describes it as follows: According to Symmes's Theory, the earth, as well as all the celestial orbicular bodies existing in the universe, visible and invisible, which partake in any degree of a planetary nature, from the greatest to the smallest, from the sun down to the most minute blazing meteor or falling star, are all constituted, in a greater or less degree, of a collection of spheres, more or less solid, concentric with each other, and more or less open at their poles. The map of Atvatabar. Meet the "Big Daddy": Roadtripping US-20, the Longest Road, An essential guide to 48 amazing hours in Cincinnati, Your road trip guide to every awesome detour off I-70, Great Lakes love along Lake Erie's shores, Salem, Massachusetts, embraces its sordid past as Witch City, An Atlantic Coast road trip from Boston to Miami, How to best experience Zion National Park, A neon-fueled road trip along Route 66's most iconic spots, The Blue Ridge Parkway connects two national parks. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). His theory is commemorated by a monument -- topped by a replica of a hollow earth -- in a Hamilton park, formerly a pioneer cemetery, between South Third, South Fourth and Sycamore streets. (El Río de Luz by Frederic Edwin Church). He afterward The Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum Announced this Week that Its Annual Art & Music Festival will Continue as Planned. Winner will be selected at random on 12/01/2020. marker is at the center of Symmes Park Playground, originally Ludlow Park, the Hamilton Pioneer Cemetery. entered the Army of the U.S. Find out what it takes to make your favorite spaceships tick, hum, and drone. (Image: Wikipedia). Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Invisibility creeps closer to becoming a reality but we still don't know how to see out of it. Hollow Earth theory sounds like science fiction, and is often presented as such, but some of history’s greatest scientists have subscribed to it. Marker, “Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”. Is there an entrance to Hollow Earth in Butler County Ohio? But Captain John Symmes from Hamilton got a monument out of it nonetheless. Atlas Obscura and our trusted partners use technology such as cookies on our website to personalise ads, support social media features, and analyse our traffic. The perfect climate believed to exist in the Hollow Earth is said to produce animals and people that are larger and far more healthy than those on the surface.