Hunter Pyramid
Sep 10, 2023, 10:28 PM
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From this vantage point, you can see one of the most unique structures in the area.
On the hill across the river stands the ARS Hunter Pyramid. This 30-foot-tall monument is located on private property, so it is not accessible to the public, but it is easily visible from here.
The pyramid was commissioned by Lillie Hitchcock Coit and was built around 1930 to honor her grandfather, Archibald Russell Spence Hunter.
Hunter was the first known white settler in this area, arriving in the 1820s. He was an enterprising young man who opened a trading post, later operated a ferry across the Hiwassee River, and built a toll bridge just downstream from this location.
As the population grew, a new town was established in 1835. It was originally named Huntington in honor of Hunter, who served as the town’s first postmaster. In 1851, the town was incorporated and renamed Murphy, after prominent North Carolina politician Archibald D. Murphey.
The pyramid stands as a memorial to our earliest settler. The names of his wife and his niece are also inscribed on the monument.
Some say the pyramid marks the graves of the Hunter family and that their bodies are buried underneath, but that has never been confirmed.
On the hill across the river stands the ARS Hunter Pyramid. This 30-foot-tall monument is located on private property, so it is not accessible to the public, but it is easily visible from here.
The pyramid was commissioned by Lillie Hitchcock Coit and was built around 1930 to honor her grandfather, Archibald Russell Spence Hunter.
Hunter was the first known white settler in this area, arriving in the 1820s. He was an enterprising young man who opened a trading post, later operated a ferry across the Hiwassee River, and built a toll bridge just downstream from this location.
As the population grew, a new town was established in 1835. It was originally named Huntington in honor of Hunter, who served as the town’s first postmaster. In 1851, the town was incorporated and renamed Murphy, after prominent North Carolina politician Archibald D. Murphey.
The pyramid stands as a memorial to our earliest settler. The names of his wife and his niece are also inscribed on the monument.
Some say the pyramid marks the graves of the Hunter family and that their bodies are buried underneath, but that has never been confirmed.