Abandoned Chopmist Hill WWII Listening Station | Rhode Island History
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2024
- In this tiny little state we had a great big military secret: arguably the most powerful radio listening station in United States, capable of picking up German tank communications in North Africa and Japanese movements the Pacific, among many others. Welcome to the Chopmist Hill Listening Station.
Filmed/Edited by Jason Allard
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Before we jump right into this you’re probably wondering, what is a Listening Station? In simple terms, it’s a station with A BUNCH of radio equipment used to intercept enemy radio transmitter communications. Highly important things like spy locations, troop movements, and attack plans.
1940. That’s when these listening stations began popping up around the United States as part of the FCC’s new Radio Intelligence Division, which monitored radio transmissions for national security in the lead up to and during WWII. The RID was basically a detective agency that worked with the U.S. Army, Navy, FBI and State Department. Its business was counter-radio-espionage - NICE. You think THAT sounds cool? Hold up it gets cooler and warmer.
In the fall of 1940, a year before Pearl Harbor, the RID sent radio technician Thomas B. Cave to find a hilltop in southern New England that could serve as one of 13 listening posts to detect radio transmissions from German spies in the United States.
He checked out a few spots, but then Tommy Boy found Chopmist Hill here in Scituate Rhode Island. Specifically, a 183 acre farm with a 14 room farmhouse. This exact house, actually. He figured this would be a good spot since at the time, there were no power lines or other factors that would interfere with radio signals.
Once it was up and running, operators discovered that due to some geographic and atmospheric anomalies along with their equipment, Chopmist Hill in Scituate was able to pull in radio signals, even weak ones, from around the world.
A Providence Journal article published after the war in 1945 and with permission from the FCC, revealed that the Scituate station could receive messages sent by the enemy which no other secret station anywhere could pick up.
This station kept tabs on 400 enemy transmitting stations on the air every day, and code messages were recorded on discs sent to Washington’s “black chamber” for decoding.
How good was this station? Oh, it was GOOD.
Operators here were able to pinpoint the location of ANY transmission in the US within 15 minutes.
In one test that the RID ran, it set up a fake German spy transmission by hanging a wire outside a window at the Pentagon and tapping some Morse code. Scituate Rhode Island reported a spy in the pentagon within SEVEN MINUTES.
Reportedly, one of the reasons there was almost no sabotage inside the United States during WWII was that Chopmist Hill was able to pick up and pinpoint the location of EVERY radio transmitter that German agents set up.
"Patrolling the ether", a very sci-fi term, was what this search through the airwaves was called, as operators constantly located axis forces at home and abroad.
Over and over again one phrase repeated by Pentagon officials about the endless data that kept coming in was “We want it from Scituate. we don’t want it from any place other than Scituate.”
This little farmhouse in Rhode Island quickly became legendary in the intelligence community, with some postwar reports going as far as saying that Chopmist Hill Won World War II.
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I can't believe I'm only hearing about this for the first time today, 5/13/24, despite having taken just about every single WWII History Class offered at Rhode Island College and having lived and gone to school in the state my whole life. Part of me just wants to believe that the history teachers and professors just didn't know about it. Because I know if I was teaching WWII history in Rhode Island I would dedicate an entire class period to teaching about this place.
That would be amazing. There are sooo many topics you can get to from this. Not only history, but physics, engineering, socio economics... maths, I guess ? Trinagulation and such.
My friend who drills wells said that he was in that area drilling a well a while back and about forty feet down they hit an underground WWII bunker. Thought you might find that interesting. Love your channel bro!
My grandfather was one of the people who did the listening there during WW 2.
Holy crap, what a great piece of history! I had absolutely no idea RI was such a key player in the outcome of WWII. Thanks for a great video.
The cooler and warmer Easter Egg had me gasping for breath from uncontrollable laughter. Keep up the great work.
cruel but yet very funny!
"warmer cooler" lmao love that reference....most expensive and dumbest description of this state EVER. Thanks Gena!!!!
Jason, growing up in central Coventry my backyard was an abandoned Nike missile base. From what I read and local rumor the base was never even completed and there were no missiles ever set in the underground silos. That didn't make it any less spectacular for a bunch of 12 year old kids to play war on!
“FCC around and find out” 😂
absolute gold
I come here after a short on WW2 channel introduced me to the existence of this station. Thank you for this video !
Ditto
I was born in Scituate, RI, although in the village of Hope in the extreme South East corner of Scituate and Chopmist Hill is in the extreme North West corner. Used to go to the 4th of July fireworks at the Chopmist Hill Inn back in the 50's and 60's. Never heard of this facility. Pretty cool.
Great video! I live less than a mile from the former station. Darby road has been part of my running loop for 23 years. As an avid history and WW2 buff I have read a lot about the role the listening station played during the war. I have talked to a few older people in the neighborhood who remember when the station was operational and also when Chopmist hill was being considered for the possible site of the UN. There is an interesting cemetery that I adopted a tenth of a mile up Danielson pike that could be an interesting subject for a video. It is known as the William West lot and contains the remains of Stephen Hopkin's parents and other family members. Thank you.
Your content is criminally underrated. I've driven through the town for years and had no idea. For such a small state RI has had a lot of impact.
Love the “cooler/warmer” reference 🤣
Had to come back and re-watch this one. It was extremely interesting
I use to Live on Chopmist Hill, 10 yrs ago. I tried finding this tower, after reading about it somewhere. I Never found it. Great video 📹 👍 👏
It makes my day when Jason puts up a video. I KNOW it’s going to be a real treat. Well done!
Seriously, his stuff is so good
Well said Mister Ed
I live in Scituate I love when you do local stuff
This is an excellent video. I didn't know how significant Chopmist Hill was.
I like the cooler & warmer bread crumb 😂, good ol’ Rhode Island.
i absolutely love this hidden piece on rhode island history! i never knew about it and have lived in this state my whole life. 36 years. you did such a great job explaining this and teaching us about this lost bit of local history!
“It gets cooler and warmer” 😂
Fantastic video! Learning of these places after they are long silent, is creepy. Like the old base out on Prudence Island, this isolated spot is fascinating. Slowly secrets come out, who knows what else you will learn, discover and document.
Waves~~~from EP, RI
Hold up it gets "Cooler & Warmer "
"NOT A PART OF NEW YORK "
First time watcher ,had to sub.
I'm Born N Raised in the Ocean State and I can hear it in your commentary.
Fantastic upload,keep grinding stay blessed.
Jason - THANK YOU for this video! I had the honor of knowing Fred Leeder very well. He and his family lived in that same house where the WWII listening post operated. The Leeder family was well known and respected in the town of Scituate. Fred had given me a personal tour of the house and grounds where all of the operations took place. Very impressive - especially to an electronics engineer who is very interested in radio communications (me). Just the other day, I drove by that house on Darby Road with my wife and pointed out the tower on the side of the house. It's still covered with vines and has been that way for some time now. Fred passed away in 2016, and he will always be remembered for his community service - even more so than being "the guy who lived in the WWII Listening post". Thanks again for the great video! - Bill V.
Very good video. The airport in warwick was a big help as a well. Thanks from a Fellow Rhode Islander
I recently moved from RI, and although I'm no longer a resident, these videos still manage to install a sense of pride in the fact that I once lived in a state with such rich and interesting history. I only wish every state had their own Jason Allard producing this kind of content.
I grew up on chopmist hill road and have driven by that location many times. I had no idea that it was used for radio interception during WW2
My brother in law and his wife used to own this house. How cool to see this video since I was in this house many times. 😀
I wish you could have came to Hanton city in smithfeild for the tour but u still made it in the local paper good stuff as usual
I love Hanton City, The amount of history left behind is amazing, truly a breathtaking area.
Rhode Islander here 👋🏼. This is so cool to learn. 🤗
Awesome Video ! great watch thank you for sharing .
Your best video! When I first heard about this and that the UN was almost located in Scituate near where I'm living now, it blew my mind, but you just dropped a bunch of other facts I didn't know.
Born and raised in Scituate, RI so much history in such alittle state been by there many times.
The editing is out of this world
Another great local Rhode Island video👍💯 always appreciated 🙏
Another winner Jason!! This video was fascinating and fun to watch….you make history fun.
Great piece of Scituate history! Thanks for sharing!
Very interesting an informative story thank you for this
Holy Batmobile Mr Jason trying to find words on how well your videos are i am ashamed i never knew anything about this Listening Station and how important it was during WW2 and in Rhode Island WOW ... like i said before if i could smash the like button a Zillion times a second believe me i would Mr Jason you are a true RHODE ISLANDER Have yourself and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Health HAPPY New Year Cheers From Tiverton
A kid in my grade actually lived in that house while we were in middle school, really cool to know some more of the history about it.
Another great find. This is practically in my backyard and I had no idea! Love your content!
Scituate resident here. I knew about this but not this many details thanks for the video it was awesome
Annapolis, MD has 3 radio towers near the Naval Academy that are protected. They were ULF transmitting towers built for use in WWI to talk to command in Europe. Don’t know if they were used in WWII, but I would think so🤷.
Great content as usual! Cheers from MD!
many of those receivers shown are Hallicrafters SX-28 Super Skyriders. Using one in Barrington got me into ham radio in 1959 as K1LNL
I love your content but the military stuff is my favorite. Keep up the great work!
Excellent video! Thanks for making it.
Well done as always!!!
There's an open field in Portsmouth RI near the entrance to the industrial park with a memorial or historical placard at the opening gap between the tree line. I remember it mentioning a battle between Germans, British and being involved. On a small path to the field there's a large round concrete platform that was used for an artillery cannon. Little known area, but that location is one of the highest elevation points on that side of the island, best tactical advantage during battles.
Jason, if the pictures you supplied are actually of the radio equipment used at the Scituate site, most of the radios I was seeing were Hallicrafters Model SX-28's, Hallicrafters 'top-of-the line" amateur radio receiver of that period (& also used by the military during the war). Amateur radio operators were ordered off the long-distance shortwave bands (today commonly referred to as "HF" - "High Frequency", 3 to 30 MHz.) for the duration of WWII; the only ham operation permitted during the war was short-range "WERS" (War Emergency Radio Service), the WWII equivalent of 1950's Civil Defense, using low-power equipment on the 2-1/2 meter (112 MHz.) band, today part of the aircraft band.
Hallicrafters SX-28's still turn up at ham radio flea markets & on eBay, & are considered collectible radios today.
From a long-time amateur radio operator (licensed 53 years!) who likes to tinker with vintage radios as well as state-of-the art equipment. ;)
Well done, really great story here. Such a little known thing to be proud of in RI!
Production quality is absolutely fantastic.
That was a fascinating story.
Fascinating!!! Grew up in RI. Never knew this story. Thanks for sharing
Great video, " fcc around and find out" hilarious
I have loved all of these. Good job!
Always great! My connection to RI is small in that I attended school in Providence. I still feel connected just the same. It was a great time of my life!
Such great history. Who knew such cool stuff existed in such a small state.
Amazing vid...this guys gonna blow up! New sub for sure!
great to 'see' you!
Great video! Very interesting piece of RI history. Thanks for going HAM on this.
I love your RI content, very entertaining, informative and funny. 👍
This was exceptionally interesting. I love history, but military history is some of my favorite. It'd be cool to live next door to that, I would try to hook up my shortwave radio, see what I could get with it. You can listen to stuff from around the world with a much small antenna, I'm sure that would be amazing to play with
Thanks dude, this is very interesting. Like all Rhode Islanders, I can drive 20 minutes and check this place out. Happy holidays, and all the best to you and your family. Peace
Awesome footage
Found out about this about 5 years ago talking about ufos with the folks working at famous pizza.
There was also a secret underwater torpedo testing station out in the bay, disguised as an old lighthouse. My dad told me about it, he was an engineer working at Nusc for 35 years helping to design smaller torpedo engines and power sources. I still remember the day he said how much he regretted making destructive devices that killed people. He was also a past Grand Master of his Portsmouth Masonic Lodge. Still looking for his book of secrets! Not sure if it was also used to protect the entrance to the bay. They may have had tubes pointing both directions.
Awesome vid. So cool learning about my state and it’s history
I have been born and raised in RI and I'm proud of it.
Why is the radio tower not a WW2 Memorial? Thanks for sharing this incredible story!
That tower is fairly new. It was put up in the 70s. The small building near it was used as a repeater station so rescues could communicate with hospitals.
You should explore LADD School!
Sadly there isn't much to see there anymore. The state fire marshal office took over a couple spots and the only buildings still standing are the providence center/Phoenix House(rehab) and Job Corps. All other buildings have been demolished.
I'm from South Kingstown ..... I appreciate your talent/videos so much..... What's next?
Fascinating!! Great video!! DD
Great story!!
I live ten mins from there. Had no idea about it!
So good !
Very cool
Very interesting. ☺️
My Grandfather was the head of the science department at Woonsocket High School. I met a coworker of his, Mr. Allard, who was head of the English department. Apparently the two of them were very liked. Mr. Allard was a substitute teacher at Cumbersome High School where I attended. Once he found out my Grandfather was his good friend he literally stopped teacher and just shot the shit with me. Really cool guy. I don't wonder if you are related to him. Anyways, I enjoy your content. Cheers.
Love these videos
Great info...excellent video as always!
Awesome bit of history ! Love it !
Absolute incredible investigative. informational and reporting video ! Thank you for your stellar hard work and dedication to this video and the many others you have produced. If I could have I would have given you more then One 👍👍👍! ☺
FCC and find out... Love it!
thank you very much for this.
There are huge underground concrete buildings, some three levels down located on farmland in Portsmouth, that were used to contain large manual valves that allowed fluids to be stored safely in-land and then piped underground all the way to the coastal piers for fresh water, fuel, oils, kerosene, battery electrolytes, maybe anti-freeze. There used to be a few water towers, but some have fallen down or taken down for safety, one being near a school in Melville. I believe there's still a large water tower located at Raytheon in Portsmouth. The underground tank-farms were mostly rusted and half filled with water by the time me and my friends got to them while growing up, lucky none of us fell into the water or impaled on old rusted platform pipes. Super dangerous, even back in the late 70's. They were protected by a huge horned bull, who may have been there to also protect the cows.
Very interesting…….. From Michigan…..
You mentioned not knowing what kinds of radio equipment was used in that listening post. I have read that they were mostly the Hallicrafters SX-28 models, which were state of the art, for the HF bands and also some older model SX-25 radios. As for VHF, I don't know what was used.
I have really wanted you to explore the showcase cinema on Fall River ave in Seekonk mass. That building has been abandoned for a decade now i I really want to know more about it
Nice,👍
You should visit Aldrich jr high school in Warwick. Cool abandoned school that closed in 2016
Very interesting, I live in RI and had no idea. I'm curious to know why he chose Chopmist Hill in Scituate and not Jerimoth Hill in Foster (only a few miles west) which is about 25m higher? In fact Chopmist Hill is only the 7th highest point in RI.
Scituate is my home town!!
As a native Rhode Islander I must say this place would be wildly different if the U.N. headquarters were located here.
Phewwwwww 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
As a Rhode Island native for 27 years (born in 1995) I never knew that this existed
Dont feel so bad Native of RI for 60 yrs and never knew anything about this
Wow you're young
Wow you're young
Interesting.. !! What is the address in Millis where they move it too?
Hey Jason, I’ve got an abandoned place for you to check out in New England. It’s a historic abandoned mill called the Jason Phillips mill, it’s located in the woods on Collins Corner Road in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. I don’t know the history behind this mill but what I do know is that it was a mill from the 19th century and it’s remains still exist today, and I’m sure there’s a website or news article somewhere on the internet that explains the history behind this mill. And also it exists on Google Maps as well so if you go to Google Maps and search up, “Jason Phillips mill site” you will be shown the location of the mill as well as some pictures of the mill’s remains. I brought this up to you because I know that you’re into abandoned mills and stuff so I thought you would be interested in this and maybe do a video on it too.
As a Rhode Islander I know of the state history library
Hallicrafters receivers, SX-28s. But with them in pairs like you see here, they were probably set up in "diversity", which uses two receivers and a "voter"-type device that would keep the hotter of the two intercepts going to the speaker. This helps kill fading issues on HF, making the signals easier to interpret.
Pretty much all of the HF activity in that region is dead now. Not only this, but the Scituate, MA transmitter site for WNYW and later WYFR has been out of commission for decades. Then there was WCC, Chatham, MA...one of the very last operating maritime stations, went dark in the late 90s. ATT also had a massive radiotelephone station along the NJ coast, also dead.
There's still one shortwave broadcaster left in New England, far as I know: WBCQ, up in Maine. The area used to see lots of HF activity...now it's gone.
I live super close to this and almost nobody in town knows about the history.