Jerimoth Hill

Jerimoth Hill
Top of Jerimoth Hill. The highest point in Rhode Island is the rock outcropping.
Elevation	812 ft (247 m)
Location	Foster, Rhode Island, USA
Coordinates	41°50′58″N, 71°46′43″W
Topo map	Jerimoth Hill
Easiest route	Highway (RI 101)

The Jerimoth Hill sign as it stands along Route 101. This is not the actual highpoint.

Jerimoth Hill is the name of the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, at 812 feet (247 m) above sea level. It was once one of the most controversial U.S. highpoints due to property complications, but it is now accessible to the public on weekends. Jerimoth Hill is located in Providence County in the town of Foster, near the Connecticut border.

For many years, hikers could not access Jerimoth Hill because a property owner, Henry Richardson, prevented them from accessing the highpoint. The highpoint itself, a small rock outcrop, is owned by Brown University, not Richardson, but his driveway is the only path that leads to it.

The highpoint was donated to Brown University by Walter Raymond Turner, a Brown alumni, Class of 1911. He purchased the Saltbox house to the west and the surrounding 360 acres, in 1938. Unbeknown to the highpointers, along with the 'Summit', Turner also provided a right of way, straight north to Route 101 (the Star Route). Unfortunately for them, It has since been overgrown.

Richardson was once welcoming to highpoint visitors and let them cross his property without even asking permission, but this goodwill was ultimately abused to the point that he closed it off completely. Nevertheless, they kept coming and Richardson became known sometimes to insult, threaten or even use violence against visitors who tried to use his road. He also installed motion detectors around his property lines.

One man successfully got to the highpoint of Rhode Island, but in order to avoid harassment by Richardson, he went on a circuitous course and got to the top after two hours of bushwhacking and walking through bogs. The co-owner of the Highpointers' Club Magazine, Dave Covill, tried for years to persuade Richardson to allow his members to walk to the highpoint (he was unsuccessful). There was so much pressure on Richardson to let highpointers cross through his property that Richardson's son finally gave permission to the hikers in 1998 by allowing hikers to get to the highpoint on selected national holidays.

Highpointers once considered Jerimoth Hill less accessible than Mt. McKinley, as the Richardsons' driveway was heavily posted against trespassing. In June 2005, Jeff and Debbie Mosley bought the Richardsons' property, and soon created a path to the highpoint. As of August 2007, it is open everyday, from 8:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. local (Eastern) time.

RI 101, the old Rhode Island and Connecticut Turnpike, passes over the hill.

References

• To The Top: Reaching for America's 50 State Summits, Joe Glickman and Nels Akerlund, Northword Press, 2003, ISBN 1-55971-871-4

External links

• Highpoints of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island

Donate to Wikimedia