Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1876-02-10
SURVEY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

III kl kAi-.
A.. MoUNrAINS. The county has but
one mouuiain-chain. and but one mountain
group. The line Of mountains stretching
across the Island OF Nj. Desert. i con-
tiuua,jon OF the Schoodic system. Mt
Desert Rock. and the Porcupncs are OCEAN
mountains OF the same system. This
range In crossing the Island OF Mt. Desert,
is uphesyed into thirteen well-deaned
mountain peaks. The highest peak Of the
F '.Coa,te HIS i, Green Mountain. in
Eden.
The only mountalu-group j. IN Dedham;
( here, ten mountains are clustered together.
f Those ten mountain peaks, rocks piled
on rocks immensely high, with yawning
I gulf between" has given to the town the
name u The Switzerland Of Maine" The
/ other elevations, deserving the geographi-
/ cal name Of mountains, are Bluehill Mt,
/ IN Bldehill; Bull IIill MI. In Eastbrook
f Bald and funk M.s, in No. 10, and Lead
+ Nj, in No. =. The mountains upon the
I main. a-e conical peaks, standing in isola-
tion.
There are nine bald" mountains in the
State. Lead Mountain IS said to have been
so named. from the fact of lead hav-
ing been found at it, base. Query:
T MAY This not be the lead mine" discover
! ed 90 years ago. by the hunter, Webb:
tsre Of the topography OF the county. is
I its uuevenuess. being moderately A..ly,
with greater fresh water area, thau any
other county in the State. As the NOUN
tains stand In low rank on the scale OF
elevation. in the 9th. 20 the valleys are
not rayine in character; the grand feature
of It's surface conformation. ben. long
swells. or rilge-rauges. varously broken
and diversified with local elevations aud
Impressions, with but few abrupt accliyl-
ties or e-carps. The only narrow defles
Of the gore form, al. a, Mo. ANS Bay.
surry, - Mclieards. BluehiIl. and neai
Mason's Mills, Orland There is a deal Of
waste land. known a, "Heaths" MAY
not these be roads oyergrown and heath
clad with shrubs:
~. WATERSHEDS. The county has
three drainage-streamS, = the Peuobscot
River, on the West; Union River, IN the
centre; and Narra9 uagus River, on the
East. These divide the county into three
drainage districts with two Watersheds
The termini of the Western watershed,
are Byard Point, and Hat Case Pond.
The town lying within the Western slope
and which are drained into the Penobscot
basin, are Deer Isle. Sedgwck, Brooks
vile, Penobscot. Castine. Orland. Verona.
BuckspoIt, and part Of Dedham.
The termiui Of the Eastern watershed
are >choodic Point, ana Nickatou Lake
The territory d,lin,d by the Narraguagl,s,
are portions oI marlborough, sullivan
and Franklin. The towns tributary to
the Union River basin, are fremont. Mt.
Desert. Eden. Llmoine, Trenton, Han
cock, Naltham, Ea-lbrook, Aurora. Am
her>t, Oti>. Mariayille, Ellsworth, Surry,
bIuenilI. BrookIin. and parts OF Franklin,
Dedham. Orland and sullivan.
The area tributary to each drainage ba-
sin. n computed from Waiiin9'. Surveys. |
is
Union River. .5l6.2j0 square acres.
Penobscot River. .252 40
Sarraguagus River. .ll3,5l0
The relative position of each, is
Drainage area of Union Riyer..... 60 per cent. |
Drainage area of Penobscot River. % per cent.
Drainage area of Narraguagus River. ......
Observation-Disclosures. IA per cent. |
The mean rate of descent of Union Riy. |
er is about four feet TO the mile.
About one-thrd OF the territory actually
tributary TO the Union River basin, is be-
lotC the mouth of the river" The valley
of this river basin is underlaid with mica
schist.
As. COAST LINE. This is a maritime
county. Its sca-board. including the in
curvation of the larger bays. is of greater
extent than that OF any other county in the
State. Its general outline is that of a
great hemi-cycle, or disarranged curve line
e extending from Marsh Bay, Bucksport. to
joys Bay, Gouldsborough, and IS thicker
set with tirst-class Bays, Harbors and Is
lands, than any other sea-board of equal
length on the American coast.
The "meyne" as the Indians called the
mainland, to distinguish il from lis Gordon
OF Islands. may have suggested the name
OF the State. The islands BY which the
coast-line is studded. are of every size,
from 'thumb-cap" to 100 square miles,
while Mt. Desert Rock stands on picket,
twenty miles 'broad-off" in perpetualIy
ocean, where it has roughed it
Tor ages.
There are some 300 islands within the
sea-bOard limits, 270 Of which are
on the County Map. six
towns are islands, and six are l,en.nsulars,
and twenty-five are salt water washed.
49. LIGHT HOUSES. There are sixteen
Light Houses. one each at Prospect Har.
,or, Winter Harbor. Mt. Desert Rock,