Origins & Early Life

James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 – May 29, 1916) was an American railway entrepreneur. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains and the Pacific Northwest. Because of the size of this region of the United States and the economic dominance exerted by the Hill lines, Hill became known during his lifetime as "The Empire Builder", and died in 1916 with a fortune of about $63 million, or about $1.3 to 1.7 billion today. His former home, James J.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Hill House, is now a museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota. James J. Hill was born September 16, 1838, in Eramosa Township, Upper Canada (now Ontario) to James Hill Jr. and Ann Dunbar. A childhood accident with a bow and arrow blinded him in the right eye.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

He had nine years of formal schooling. He attended the Rockwood Academy for a short while, where the head of the academy gave him free tuition. He was forced to leave school in 1852 after the death of his father. By that time, he was adept at math, land surveying, and English. His particular talents for English and mathematics...

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