Talk:Mount Mitchill

I don't have info on the exact height, but figure since its the highest point from Maine to the Yucatan (on the coast) it should be listed under Mount Mitchell as well. I'll get a picture from there and a picture of the sign that gives its exact height, but if others have info please post what you can find. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Agc7528 (talk • contribs)

Move
This article should be moved to Mount Mitchill (named after Samuel Latham Mitchill). The Monmouth County Parks webpage shows this spelling.

"Highest Between" Complications
There are many problems with the un-sourced statement about Mount Mitchill being the highest point "within twenty-five miles from the coast" between the Yucatan and Cadillac Mountain:

1) Cadillac Mountain is on an island. If islands count, then Staten Island itself has a higher point than Mount Mitchill within 3 miles of the coast, and when you get past Florida your next contender would be Cuba, not the Yucatan.

2) If islands don't count, then 25 miles still gives way too much room for closer references. There is a lot of land in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts higher than 300 to over 700 feet well within 15 miles of the coast. Heck, even New Jersey's own Palisades are within 20 miles of the beaches of Brooklyn and much closer still to the Long Island Sound, if such inlets count (see below).

3) If the Gulf of Mexico isn't to be counted, then jumping down to the Yucatan peninsula as a reference gives the wrong impression, since the Florida peninsula is where the Gulf begins and nothing between the two peninsulas is actually being counted. Never mind also that the Yucatan is surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, which should either both be counted or both not.

4) If such major inlets DO count, then there are mountains higher than even Cadillac within 2 1/2 miles of the Gulf Coast in the Mexican province of Veracruz, and many hills and mountains well north of there within 20 miles of the coast in the province of Tamaulipas, which borders Texas.

No matter how you phrase it, a superlative like "___-est between X and Y within Z units of W" will end up being rather arbitrary, not to mention problematic in verifying. rainfrog 04:23, 3 March 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rainfrog (talk • contribs)


 * Most of this stuff about Mt. Mitchell being the "highest point on the east coast" is a simple misinterpretation. It is not the highest point... Todt Hill in Staten Island and even closer, Beacon Hill (highest point in Monmouth County), are substantially higher.  However, according to the USGS (http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/parks/loc51.htm), the Atlantic (Navesink) Highlands, of which Mt. Mitchell fronts on the seaward edge, is the highest natural headland along the U.S. East Coast south of Maine.  From what I can find online, this appears to be factually accurate.  Mount Mitchell marks the apex of the highest headland along the eastern seaboard (excluding Maine).  ---Lithium6ion (talk) 16:49, 5 September 2011 (UTC)