The Earth is Hollow and Habitable Within

Ever wonder where Jules Verne got the idea for Journey to the Center of the Earth, or Edgar Allan Poe for his only novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym?  To get an answer you need to go to this shabby park in a low income neighborhood of Hamilton, Ohio.  It is in that park that you'll find a monument to John Cleves Symmes, War of 1812 hero and son of a member of the Continental Congress and founder of the Miami Purchase.

Symmes had an average formal education, but he was an avid learner, reading anything he could get his hands on.  In his readings Symmes came to realize something astounding:  The Earth was hollow and habitable within.  Near the poles, which were not so familiar in the early 19th century, were large holes.  Inside those holes were a series of concentric spheres, each with their own polar voids.  Sunlight shined through the holes, heating an "aerial elastic fluid" to a habitable temperature.

In 1818 Symmes began publishing pamplets describing his theories to solicit funds for a polar expedition.  His ideas were mostly laughed at but he persisted.  Through his father's political connections he was able to get bills to fund his expedition introduced in Congress but none ever advanced very far.  He wasn't much of a public speaker but he undertook a lecture tour that raised enough money to get him to the next town on his lecture tour.  He did start to gather some fame.  He sat for a portrait by John James Audubon, a pseudonymous novel, possibly written by Symmes, based on his ideas, Symzonia:  Voyage of Discovery was published.  He hooked up with a younger, more dynamic speaker to give a tour of Eastern cities, and a supporter wrote a book to explain Symmes ideas to a wide audience.  Symmes, however, grew ill, returned home to Hamilton and died in 1829.  His son, Americas Vespucci Symmes, erected the monument, complete with hollow Earth, to his father in the 1840s.

Comments

[Romy]

Follow the link to the "younger, more dynamic speaker" - interesting info on Jeremiah Reynolds, very sad info on "Mocha Dick". F****** whalers.

[Joe]

"Mocha Dick"? Very interesting, especially when you consider where Starbuck's got it's name.