Jerimoth Hill

Jerimoth Hill is the name of the highest natural point in the US state of Rhode Island, at 812 feet (247.5 m) above sea level. It was once one of the most controversial U.S. highpoints due to property complications, but 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 man, named Henry Richardson, prevented hikers 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.

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.

The actual highpoint is located behind this tree and is marked by the small rock outcrop.

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 top after two hours of bushwhacking and walking through bogs. The co-owner of the Highpointers' Club Magazine, Dave Covill, tried for years to get 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. Until then, the nearby road was considered good enough as it is less than a few feet lower in elevation than the highpoint.

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 as of August 2005, have created a path to the highpoint. It is open weekends, from 8:00 AM through 3:00 PM local (Eastern) time.

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

Source: To the top by Joe Glickman and Nels Ackerlund

Boston News article on Jeff and Debbie Mosley and Jerimoth Hill.
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