Hollow Earth? Uhhh... no

Hamilton, OH - Talk about barking up the wrong tree.

The 2024-2025 season finale for the Celebrating Self luncheon speaker series ended with the curious case of John Cleves Symmes Jr.

The fact that his uncle - not his father - was John Cleves Symmes Sr. may be the least unusual part of his history.

Hamilton Freshman School history teacher Chris Maraschiello and Brad Spurlock of the Hamilton Lane Library presented Journey to the Center of the Earth on Wednesday, April 2, to discuss Symmes and his Hollow Earth theory.

Symmes - who is buried beneath the Hollow Earth Monument in the Hamilton park that bears his name - believed there were holes at the north and south poles that led to a subterranean, inhabitable layer of the planet. He nearly got federal funding for a polar expedition to prove his theory.

Absent the funding, however, Symmes suffered poverty - or "pecuniary embarrassment" in the parlance of the early 19th century - most of his life. He also absorbed the scorn of a scientific community that repeatedly and thoroughly rejected his theory.

While the Hollow Earth Theory proved erroneous and - ultimately - laughable, Symmes' memory survives as a genuine Hamilton eccentric. That memory is celebrated later this month with the second annual Hollow Earth Fest from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 26.

Until then, enjoy a few images from the Celebrating Self event in the photo gallery below.