Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1905-11-10
Two We'll Defined Old "sea Beaches" In
the Town Of Rockingham.
tFrom the forthcoming History Of the
rnNlrrl Of Ilcr,lrir,

mas many peTcullarltes OF nil, dale, pla-
teau and terrace, the latter in all sections
being particularly noticeable, It is not
known by many of the present residents
that we enjoy the distinction OF two long
stretches of well-defined old sea beach
that were left here in the receding Of the
waters ages ago.
In the Geology of Vermont" published
in two large volumes in 1861 under au-
thority OF the legislature, Professor
Hitchcock says, under the head of AN
Client Sea Beaches" on page 1862 OF Vol. /,
that In Rockingham Center, on Williams
river, there is very distinct beach at
the village upon the south side of the
river. 1t appears In the form of large
rounded hills which continue westward
In the form of bank upon the side Of the
hill. Upon the north side OF the river
it extends back in the shape Of an arc OF
a circle, as If it were the shore of a small
bay. Its height is estimated to be from
600 to 700 feet above the ocean"
Also In Rockingham, between Sax
tons River village and Cambridgeport,
upon the north side of the river there is
some resemblance to a beach upon the
hills above the terraces"
Professor Hitchcock gives very plausl-
BILE theory as to how these came to be left
so high above the sea, and gives an in
teresting account of the ten different and
well-defined terraces seen about Bellows
Falls in the valley of the Connecticut. and
at all the points along this river He works
out in a reasonable manner the proof OF
his statement that the whole Connecticut
valley was once a great lake above Bel
lows Falls, ages after the sea itself had
receded, and that the rocks here had once
interposed a barrier because OF which the
water, now flowing down the Connecticut.
at one time actually was drained through
the Merrimac river.
The following quotation from his long
article, (Vol. /. p. 2O9) serves to show the
theory upon which he bases his judgment.
ION the east Side of Connecticut river
at Bellows Falls, Kilburn peak rises very
precipitously sos feet above the river at
the top of the falls. and crowds close
upon 1t: while on the west side the coun-
try rises rapidly towards the Green
Mountains. to a still greater height. One
can hardly look at the narrow passage
OF the river through the gorge. without
awakening the inquiry whether 1t has not
been worn out by the river, or some other
agency. II so, the valley above this spot
must once have formed a lake, which ac-
cordng to the present levels. would be
500 feet deep. Starting with Kllburn
peak and going northeasterly. we shall
find the watershed between the Merrimac
md Connecticut valleys extending almost
in a straight line to Franconia. ana then
turning more to the right to Mount Wash
ington. The lowest point In this ridge
south Of the White Mountains above Con-
necticut river is at Lebanon. S22 feet above
the river at Bellows Falls On the YER
mont side OF the river the country rises
to the Green Mountain ridge and the low
est depression in II south OF the latitude
of the White Mountains is on the Yer
mont Central railroad at RoXbury which
is $50 feet above the river al Lebanon;
the lowest point on the Rutland & Bur-
lington road at Mount Holly being 1850
feet above the river at Bellows Falls
Hence II the Connecticut valley above
Bellows Falls had been filed with water
to the height OF 722 feet above the present
level of the river the water would not
have flowed out laterally either into the
valley OF the Merrimac, or OF Lake Cham
plain. Nor can there be any doubt that
there is a barrier on the north, high
enough To prevent communication with the
valley of the st. Lawrence
Now 1t so happens that where the
Northern railroad has eXcavated a trench
through the eastern watershed In Union.
30 feet deep and 1900 feet long. IL has
laid open several large pot-holes In the
granite These we consider decisive
proof that a cataract once existed at this
spot. since we know OF no other agency
that could produce pot-holes. Both on
the east and west sides OF the cut We
find swamps surrounded by gravel beds
or modified drift, with brooks starting,
the one for Merrmac and the other for
Connecticut river But we see at once
that these have had nothing to do with
the powerful erosions that are manifest at
this spot. large stream OF water must
have poured over the barrier. from the
Connecticut into the Merrimac valley Had
the current been from the southeast the
marks Of river action would have been
on the northwest side; but instead OF this
we find on that side strong evidence Of
drift agency, while the pot-holes are on
the Merrimac side OF the ridge.
"On examining the west mural face
and the top OF Kilburn peak. we find
marks OF what seems to- be ancient river
action. which the subsequent erosions OF
the drift agency did not obliterate. On
account of the difficulty OF distinguishing
between the two agencies, or we might
say between huviatile and oceanic agency
generally, all OF which have been brought
to hear upon this spot we feel no great
confidence in this corroboratory proof OF
the former outflow OF water as high as
Kilburn peak.
THE facts. however, that have been
stated, force us very strongly to the con-
cluson that the Connecticut valley above
Bellows Falls must have been filled with
water as high as the gorge i'm Union,-
that Is, 1922 feet above the top Of Bellows
tains there must have been once united,
and the gorge have been worn TO its
present depth by fiuviatile conjoined with
oceanic agency. The great lake above,
which once had an outlet at Union in the
Merrimac valley, was subsequently drain
ed by the way OF Bellows Falls. What
diverted the current from Union to Bel
lows Falls 1t may not be easy to
determine, II we suppose the present
levels not to have been changed But in
some other cases we have strong reason
to believe that during the sojourn of the
continent beneath the ocean at the
drift period gravel accumulated in val
leys which on a previous continent were
the beds of rivers. so that when the con-
tinent rose the rivers had to seek out
new channels"
Professor Hitchcock, in another part
of the volume mentioned, drawing atten-
ton to the fact of the formation OF land
positively that at some period later than
that spoken Of above, after the river had
broken down the upper barriers OF rock
that had held II at a higher level the
Connecticut ran west of Pine Hin, be-
tween that and Oak Hill, where now a
large portion of the village stands. He
says the formation of soil and rock ndi-
cate this with certainty, and that what
is now Atkinson and Green streets was
once the very bed of the river. He gives
the height of the summit Of Pine Hill as
172 feet above the water in the river at
the eddy below the falls