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Talk:Weed Patch Hill

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Elevation

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Although the USGS topographic map (Nashville Quad) found at [1] shows the elevation of Weed Patch Hill as 1058 feet, the feature detail report of the Geographic names Information System found at [2] gives the elevation as 1056 feet. Although the difference is minor, it would be nice to know the correct number. -- Cuppysfriend 23:12, 21 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

As for where Weed Patch Hill stands in order of elevation among the lofty summits of Indiana, I find that it is third. First, of course, is Hoosier Hill in Wayne County at 1257 feet. Next is Sand Hill in Noble County at 1076 feet. I apologize for my earlier error in placing Weed Patch Hill second. -- Cuppysfriend 23:26, 21 July 2006 (UTC).[reply]

The claim that "Weed Patch Hill is the third highest hill in Indiana" is dubious. There are established methods for making height-based lists (see entry for Fourteener for an example). The most common (and defensible) criterion is to require a minimum Topographic prominence. Another common criterion is a minimum distance to higher land. It looks like neither criteria has been followed in the Weed Patch case. Merely doing a USGS name lookup and comparing the elevations that USGS lists is woefully inadequate, for many reasons. The elevations listed in the USGS database are frequently wrong. There are many hills that will not show up in a USGS name lookup, like the Randolph county highpoint (elevation 1240+, yes that's higher than Weed Patch). In a "non-mountainous" state like Indiana, there will inevitably be numerous landforms that could be considered "hills" that are quite a bit higher than Weed Patch, it's just that not all of them have well-established names, and therefore will not show up in the USGS database. A quick scan of the county highpointers website (www.cohp.org) shows that Dekalb, Franklin, Lagrange, Steuben, and Randolph counties (in addition to Wayne and Noble counties, location of Hoosier Hill and Sand Hill) all have highpoints higher than Weed Patch. Do these count as "hills"? That's anybody's guess. 17:46, 28 July 2006 (UTC)