Diamond Hill in Cumberland Rhode Island in 2014

Diamond Hill is a large hill on Diamond Hill Road in

Cumberland, Rhode Island Cumberland is the northeasternmost town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, first settled in 1635 and incorporated in 1746. The population was 36,405 at the 2020 census, making it the seventh-largest municipality and the largest t ...

, which contains a town park and former ski area. The summit is 481 feet above sea level. On a clear day, the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

skyline and

Mount Wachusett Mount Wachusett is a mountain in Massachusetts. It straddles towns of Princeton and Westminster, in Worcester County. It is the highest point in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River. The mountain is named after a Native American term me ...

are visible. Diamond Hill is a massive outcropping of white

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

with a vertical drop of 350 feet. The hill was named in colonial times and takes its name "from its sparkling and shining appearance."Winterbotham, W., An Historical, Geographical, Commercial, and Philosophical View of the American United States and of the European Settlements in America and the West-Indies, Volume II (1795), pg. 227 In the colonial era, the Whipple family (the children of John Whipple, Sr.) first settled near Diamond Hill, and during

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

in the 1670s, several skirmishes occurred nearby, including

Nine Men's Misery Nine Men's Misery is a site in current day Cumberland, Rhode Island, where nine colonists were tortured by Narragansett warriors during King Philip's War. A stone memorial was constructed in 1676 and is believed to be the oldest war monument in ...

, the memorial of which is now on the grounds of the nearby Cumberland Monastery. In 1877 the Diamond Hill Granite Company founded a granite quarry northwest of Diamond Hill and copper was also mined near the hill."The History of Cumberland," ''History of the State of Rhode Island with Illustrations,'' (Albert J. Wright, Printer No. 79 Mille Street, corner of Federal, Boston. Hong, Wade & Co., Philadelphia 1878), pp. 110 - 117 http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rigenweb/articles/251.html In 1935 "Philip Allen, C. Faulkner Kendall, and Henry Munroe Rogers offered 235 acres of land on the hill to the State of Rhode Island" and ski trails were cut shortly thereafter. In the twentieth century, the hill contained two small ski areas, Ski Valley (operating from 1939 to 1981) and Diamond Hill Reservation (operating from the mid-1960s to mid-1980s). In 1939 when the first ski area opened, it was a hike-up and ski-down facility, but operators of the ski areas eventually constructed

rope tow A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-co ...

s, a

T-bar A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-co ...

, and multiple two person chair lifts. In the 1980s, some of the lifts and equipment were gradually sold, and the ski areas were closed. In 1997 the town of Cumberland acquired Diamond Hill from the State. The hill is now a 373-acre town park and is the starting point of the thirty-three mile

Warner Trail The Warner Trail is a New England hiking trail which extends from Diamond Hill in the northeast corner of Rhode Island northeast through Norfolk County, Massachusetts to Canton, south of Boston. Description Its route winds through what has ...

. The park features athletic fields, picnic areas, 3.8 miles of hiking trails and a band stand near the pond. A popular event, Cumberlandfest, is held each year on the second weekend of August at Diamond Hill Park. This event features a

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

, with rides and various venues, as well as live entertainment by Matty KayKay and a small fireworks show. Proceeds go to the town's athletic programs. This event attracts thousands of people every year. Late in the year since 2002, the Cumberland Town and Recreational Department has organized a "Spook Trail" in the woods of Diamond Hill Park on Diamond Hill Road once called "Haunted Hill” now referred to as “13th World.” No longer run by the town.

References

Hills of Rhode Island Landforms of Providence County, Rhode Island Ski areas and resorts in Rhode Island Cumberland, Rhode Island Parks in Rhode Island Tourist attractions in Providence County, Rhode Island {{Ski-resort-stub