06/10/2026
Couchwood, the lakeshore home of Harvey C. Couch on Lake Catherine
Once the Ouachita River water impounded by Remmel Dam formed Lake Catherine, Harvey Couch built a country estate called Couchwood. He brought prominent business and government people to the lodge to make them aware of the industrial possibilities of the state. Huge family reunions were also held at this home.
Couchwood was one of the first lakeside homes to be built on Lake Catherine, Arkansas's first inland man-made fresh water lake.
In this top photo, Harvey Couch is standing on the top row, extreme right.
From the website couchwood.org - "Harvey Couch created three interconnected utility companies from scratch—AP&L, Mississippi Power and Light, and Louisiana Power and Light. He also built the first modern natural gas–fired power plant in the lower Mississippi Valley, near Monroe, Louisiana. With permits from Washington DC, he built Remmel and Carpenter dams in Garland County, using stones from the riverbanks and timber from the soon-to-be-inundated lands, thereby creating Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine, the latter named for his daughter. The only luxury he allowed himself was a rustic log cabin on Lake Catherine, just outside of Hot Springs (Garland County). He called it Couchwood, and there he entertained everyone who had helped him in his rise to fame, as well as international bankers, and presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt."
The photo of Couchwood on the left is a different perspective of the exterior of this lodge.
The group of men at Couchwood included Herbert Hoover (l to r he is #1 on the left), several unidentified men and #8 is Harvey Couch along with Col. John Fordyce #9.
Garland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage, I. B. Anthony, editor
Garland County Historical Society archives
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