Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1872-02-01
NuLERsBuRe COUNTY, THURSDAY,
Geological Survey Of Ohio.
HOLMES COUNTY.
TOPOGRAPHY.

HOLMES COUNTY.
d TOPOGRAPHY.
A minute and accurate description OF
y the topography of Holmes Co. would
require much more time and labor than
can be given to the examination of any
e single county. An irregular succession
l. of high hills and deep ravenes occupy
u the surface, and these can be reduced to
a system only in the most general way.
The valley of the Killbuck divides the
i county into two nearly equal portions,
on each side of which the hills gradual
ly rise to the altitude of four hun
dred feet,and then as gradually descend,
on the east toward the valley of Tusca-
rawas, and on the west toward that of
the Mohican. 1nnumerable creeks and
rivulets emptying into these streams,
interlocking into the most irregular
manner, cover the face of the country.
These water courses flow through mar
row alluvial valleys or deep gorges
which separate the high hills that COM
pose the greater part of the surface.
, This succession of hills and ravines ex-
hibits continuous exposures of all the
: rocks of the lower coal measures, and in
no part of the State can their character
, studied.
The soil is generally light, friable,
calcareous loan, in the valleys rich in
vegetable matter, and everywhere well
adapted to the growth of wheat. On
the hills, in some places, the surface is
covered with rocks, the debris of the
coal sandstones, so as to be entirely un-
fitted for cultivation. But dense for
est covers these rocky slopes, and the
soil was originally everywhere rich.
Continuous cultivation has had its usual
results in largely diminished produc-
tiveness; but the means of restoring
the fertility of the soil are easily OBJ
tanned in the limestones which crop out
in every township, and by proper use
of them and of clover for soiling, the
lands can readily be made to equal or
exceed their original productiveness in
the great staple of the county.
THE DRIFT.
In the central and western parts of
the county evidence of drift-action are
marked and abundant. Granite bowld- |
ers are scattered over the surface, and
along the valley of the Killbuck are
heavy deposits Of coarse gravel, which,
in places, are being cemented into a
hard Conglomerate through the action
of lime-water constantly percolating
through them. The natural valley in
which the Cleveland, Mt, Vernon and
Delaware railroad is located from Ak
ron, Summit Co., to Millersburg, and
of which the Killbuck forms part, is
distinguished from the country on each
side of it, by the abundance and coarse
ness of the drift material which it con-
tains. One cannot easily resist the con-
clusion that this, near the close of the
Drift period, was one of the channels
by which the waters of the lake basin
found their way into the valley of the
Ohio. A high divide, running irregu-
larly from Berlin through Winesburg,
to Dundee, appears to mark the limit
of the drift-action in the eastern part of
the county. On the north, and to near
the top of this ridge, on its northern
slope, scattered granite powders are to
be seen, but l have yet found none upon
its summit nor to the northeast of it,
within the limits of the county, Out
side of the valley of the Killbuck. the
drift deposits are everywhere shallow,
and the soil is composed almost entire
ly of the debris of the local rocks.
GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE.
Wacerly.-The lowest rocks observed
in the county belong to the Waverly
GrOup-the ravines in places cutting
down fully two hundred feet into this
formation. 1t covers the greater part
of Washington township, and on lot 8,
the Lozier quarries furnish heavy stone
of very fair quality which is shipped
for bridge building and other purposes,
to the adjoining counties. From twelve
to fifteen feet of this quarry is compos-
ed of hard, fine stone, in layers varying
from two to four feet in thickness, with
from six to twelve inches of silicious
iron ore at the bottom. The quarry is,
by barometrical measurement, one hun
dred and seventy feet below the base of
the thin deposit of fConglomerate, which
caps the hills in this part of the town
ship. The Waverly forms the base of
all the hills in Knox and Richland
townships,is exposed through the whole
length Of the valley of Black creek, in
Shrimplin's run, from near the Will
liams coal, in Monroe township, to its
mouth, in the valley of Paint creek, in
Monroe and Prairie townships, in the
bluffs forming both banks of Killbuck,
and on all the larger streams emptying
into the Killbuck on both sides of it.
The abundance of building stone
covering the surface derived from the
Coal-measure sandstone has prevented
any special attention being given to the
Waverly. Good stone can probably be
obtained from it, should the demand
hereafther warrant special explora-
ton.
Nearth bottom of long ravine, on
Thomas Owens land, in Knox township
layer of the Waverly is exposed, which
is apparently true Berea grit,and which
might be explored with the probability
of disclosing material for valuable
grindstones. South of Taylor's coal
bank in Coal-measures, is deposit two
or three feet thick, of yellow, hydrated
oxide of iron, which, burning assumes
all shades, from yellow to deep dark
red, and which will evidently make a
good mineral point. 1t is exposed by
stripping, but an opening into the hill
would probably give good roof, so
that if, on trial, it proves as valuable
as its external appearance indicates, it
could be taken out with facility and in
large quantities. 1t deserves to be care
fully and thoroughly tested.
A thin band of Waverly, on Paint
=