Robert Harrill | |
|---|---|
 Robert Harrill outside his home | |
| Born | February 2, 1893 |
| Died | June 4, 1972 (aged 79) Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, North Carolina, US |
| Occupation | Hermit |
| Spouse | Katie Hamrick |
| Children | 5 |
Robert E. Harrill, or Harrell (February 2, 1893 – June 4, 1972), was an American man also known as the Fort Fisher Hermit. He became a hermit in 1955, at the age of 62, having hitchhiked to Fort Fisher on the North Carolina coast from Morganton, North Carolina. He had previously been committed to a mental hospital in Morganton, after his marriage failed. Harrill settled in an abandoned World War II bunker set in a salt marsh beside the Cape Fear River in the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area.
Harrill fed himself by fishing and scavenging. He and his bunker became a tourist attraction and visitors would listen to him talk about his "School of Common Sense", leaving donations in a frying pan. After living as a hermit for 17 years, he died under mysterious circumstances in 1972, with the official cause of death given as a heart attack. His life has been commemorated with books, films and a theatre production.
- ^ "The Fort Fisher Hermit". Federal Point Historic Preservation Society. No. May. 1995. Archived from the original on 2020-05-11. Retrieved 2020-05-22.