Arthur Harvey (September 26, 1895 – March 22, 1976) was an American businessman best known as the namesake of the Harvey Park neighborhood of Denver.

Early life and World War I

Harvey was born in

Edom Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...

, Texas. At age 16 he left school to do manual labor and eventually enlisted in the Fifth Texas Infantry.Crowell, Evelyn Miller, ed. Texas Edition: Men of Achievement, John Moranz Associates, Dallas, Texas, 1948. pp. 66–67. He worked in the company office until he left for France in 1918 and was transferred to the Second Division of the Regular Army, where he was assigned to the 9th Infantry. Harvey was active from August 5, 1917, until August 18, 1919, receiving

battle stars A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

at St. Mihiel,

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

, and Meuse-Argonne and exiting as a sergeant.

The IRS and oil

After his discharge, Harvey returned to Rusk County and farmed for a year, but the failure of the crop forced him to sell the land. He became a railway

postal clerk A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

in 1920. From 1923 to 1926, Harvey worked as chief clerk in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, and in 1926 he began working for the Bureau of Internal Revenue Intelligence Unit, handling fraud investigations. In the course of auditing oil business, Harvey became well versed in the then new industry. He invested in a percentage of a 36-acre patch in the

East Texas Oil Field The East Texas Oil Field is a large oil and gas field in east Texas. Covering and parts of five counties, and having 30,340 historic and active oil wells, it is the second-largest oil field in the United States outside Alaska, and first in tot ...

. Many of his subsequent prospects failed, but notable successes included patches in the East Long Lake field in

Anderson County, Texas Anderson County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. Located within East Texas, its county seat is Palestine. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of Anderson County was 57,922. Anderson County comprises the Palestine micropol ...

, and the

Spraberry Trend The Spraberry Trend (also known as the Spraberry Field, Spraberry Oil Field, and Spraberry Formation; sometimes erroneously written as Sprayberry) is a large oil field in the Permian Basin of West Texas, covering large parts of six counties, and ...

near

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County. At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...

World War II

Harvey volunteered for military service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was commissioned a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. As an

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a ...

for the 449th Bombardment Group, he served in Italy, France, Yugoslavia, and Romania. He retired as a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Post-war life

In 1948 he purchased a 320-acre ranch in

Arapahoe County, Colorado Arapahoe County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 655,070, making it the third-most populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Littleton, Colorado, Li ...

, and in 1950 purchased another 160 acres. After several failed ventures including a refrigerated storage business, Harvey was forced to sell most of the land to a private developer. A

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

of 1,662 homes called Harvey Park was created on the land around his remaining two acres. In 1962, Harvey sold his home and returned to Texas. He died on March 22, 1976, and was buried in

Fort Logan National Cemetery Fort Logan National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado. Fort Logan, a former U.S. Army installation, was named after Union General John A. Logan, commander of US Volunteer forces during the American Civil War. It c ...

in Denver, Colorado.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Arthur 1895 births 1976 deaths 19th-century American people 20th-century American businesspeople American company founders Burials at Fort Logan National Cemetery Businesspeople from Texas Internal Revenue Service people Military personnel from Texas People from Van Zandt County, Texas Texas Oil Boom people United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army soldiers

Early life and World War I

The IRS and oil

World War II

Post-war life

Further reading

References