What US states don't have any mountains?

From Wikipedia: "There is no universally-accepted definition of mountain. In the United States, the following points of measurement have been used and taught in geography classes:

* Flat to 500 feet, base to highest point - Rolling Plain
* Highest point 501 to 999 feet above base - Hill
* Highest point 1000 feet or more above base - Mountain"

There was an excellent film released in 1995 entitled "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain":

"The movie is set in 1917 (with World War I in the background) and revolves around two English cartographers, the pompous Garrad and his junior, Anson, who arrive at the fictional Welsh village of Ffynnon Garw ("Rough Fountain" in Welsh) to measure its "mountain" - only to cause outrage when they conclude that it is only a hill because it is slightly short of the required 1000 feet."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Englishman_Who_Went_Up_a_Hill_But_Came_Down_a_Mountain

Again, note that a mountain starts at 1000ft. Therefore, any state whose highest point is less than 1000ft has no mountains, despite the whims of the publicists or wishful thinking. The defence rests.

This site lists those highest points: http://geology.com/state-high-points.shtml

Thus, based on the definition of "1000ft = a mountain", we can conclude that the states with no mountains =

Delaware
Florida
Louisiana
Mississippi
Rhode Island


Using dictionary.com's definition of "2000ft = a mountain", we get states with no mountains =

Delaware
Florida
Louisiana
Mississippi
Rhode Island
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Missouri
New Jersey
Ohio
Wisconsin

Watchkeeper -- The above list of "mountains" is also found in Wiki.

Also: MOUNTAIN -- a natural elevation of the earth's surface rising more or less abruptly to a summit, and attaining an altitude greater than that of a hill, usually greater than 2000 ft. (610 m).

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mountain

My point being, you are unlikely to find agreement on what constitutes a mountain. Thus, let's just report what we find.

According to Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, a mountain is:
"A landmass that projects conspicuously above its surroundings and is higher than a hill"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mountain

Using that definition, which Zb had previously delivered, spanked on the bottom and let run (meaning it's no longer in labor) I'd have to agree with her (!) that any mountain would be in the eye of the beholder.

The highest point in Mississippi, Woodall Mountain, looks like a mountain to me:
http://www.summitpost.org/images/small/95759.JPG

Delaware and Rhode Island don't have mountains to me. Indiana neither as far as I can tell. There's a club for people who visit the high points in each state:
http://highpointers.org/

They have photos etc. Of course, there might be a defined "mountain" that's of a lower elevation. In Delaware for instance Iron Hill is a true hill, while the highest point, Ebright Azimuth, is just a plateau.
[ surgent.net/highpoints/states/de.html nolonger exists ]

Without belaboring the definition of a mountain, if you look at the list on the following link, you'll see that all 50 states have "mountains," however, many are isolated and not in "chains":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mountains_of_the_United_States#Missouri

HILL hil n 1 : a usu. rounded elevation of land 2 : a little heap or mound (as of earth) hilly adj

MOUNTAIN maunt-en n : a landmass higher than a hill mountainous -en-es adj mountainy -en-e adj

(C) 2008 Zane Publishing, Inc. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (C) 2008 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

There are no mountains in Delaware, the entire state lies pretty low. Most of the state is a coastal plain and the average of the whole state is about 60 feet above sea level.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_there_any_mountains_in_Delaware


Nicknamed the Ocean State, Rhode Island has a number of oceanfront beaches. It is mostly flat with no real mountains, and the state's highest natural point is Jerimoth Hill, 812 feet (247 m) above sea level.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_Island#Geography