Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/52

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES P c lle y — Most of the rocks in this township are of the Chcmung-Catskill formations. The Clinton iron ore has been extensively mined along the sides o f Montour ridge, being fol­ lowed to great depths by means o f drifts, the dip being about 30 degrees. Limestone quar­ ries were numerous in the days o f iron work­ ing, but now have passed into disuse. About 8 m feet is the greatest elevation in this town­ ship. on Montour ridge. IPest Hem lock— A s is the case in the adjoin­ ing toivnships, the Chemung-Catskill form a­ tions here predominate. The Hamilton beds arc too deeply buried to make profitable work­ ing here. The greatest elevation in this town­ ship is almost 1,000 feet above the sea. D erry— The Hamilton, Hclderberg and Che­ mung rocks arc here to be seen. A large quarry w as formerly operated near Washingtonvillc, the p r ^ u c t txin g lime and building stone. T he greatest elevation in this township is 900 feet above the sea. Lim estone— Limestone ridge, the southern boundary, is composed of the O riskany sand­ stones and the Heldcrbcrg limestones. Many limestone quarries were operated in this sec­ tion, getting their product from the Bossard­ ville and Storm ville beds.. T he greatest eleva­ tion is 780 feet, on Limestone ridge. /4 nthony— T his township w as once a vast valley f i ll^ with a mighty stream, remains o f whose action are shown in the boulder heaps that strew the surface. The only rocks that here appear above the horizon are the H am il­ ton and Chemung. In the highlands of the north the greatest elevation is 1,200 feet. M ayberry— The formations in this township arc o f sim ilar character to those in Franklin township. Columbia county, adjoining. No quarries have been opened here, although the rocks have been used fo r building purposes locally. Sharp ridge, running through the center of the township, is about 300 feet above sea level. T H E IKON INDUSTRY

T h e mineral productions o f Columbia county are o f considerable value and form one of the sources o f wealth for the people, but the yearly output is only a fraction o f that of the past. During the operation of the iron furnaces at Bloomsburg and other points the production o f this metal w as the mo.st important business in the county. A ll of the ore came from the sides o f Montour ridge and w as o f a fossiliferous character. N ear the surface the ore w as like loose soil, but below the layers became harder

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and filled with limestone and many fossils. Below (he fossiliferous horizon the ore is poor and the cost o f working it prohibitive. F o r this reason the mines o f llic county were gradually abandoned as fast as tlic upper layers o f ore became exhausted. The discovery o f iron ore in Columbia county w as made in 1822 by Robert Green, a farm laborer employed by H e n ^ Young o f Hem ­ lock township, while plowing a field near the end o f Montour ridge, on the bank o f Fishing crcck. H e opened a d rift and demonstrated the value of the vein. F o r twenty years this ore w as mined and transported to the Esther and Penn furnaces, across the Susquclunna. Columbia County Furnaces B efore the discovery o f ore in the northern >art o f tiie county the Catawissa furnace was milt in Main township on Furnace run, near Catawissa creek, by John Hauck, in 18 15 . H e had the advantage o f proxim ity to the road to Reading and abundant wood for chaKoal. The ore w as at first procured from the neighbor­ hood o f Bloomsburg, but a fte r the discovery of the deposits in Hemlock township most of the raw material came from the latter source. F o r several years this w as the only furnace in the county. T he product was sent to Read­ ing to be forged and the finished iron returned for home consumption. T his w as changed by (he construction in 1824 o f a fo ^ e near the fu r­ nace by H arley & Evans and the double han­ dling done aw ay with. Both furnace and forge were oixratcd until 1883, when the distance from the mines and the cost o f fuel caused their abandonment. T he introduction of the anthracite process o f smelting also made the furnace obsolete, as it w as of the old charcoal, hot-blast design. A crumbling wall, overgrown with bushes, now marks the site o f this once fam ous iron works. The grading of the stage road to Reading through Ix x u st township m 18 17 caused the construction of the Esther furnace by Michael and Samuel Bittlcr. It was located on land originally patented to Samuel Shakespeare in >773 . on R a irin g creek, nineteen miles from Fort Augusta (now Sunbury). David Shake­ speare inherited the land and his executors deeded it to Jacob Yocum, from whom it passed to the Bittlcr family. There was neither iron nor limestone near, but an abundance o f wood. Most of the ore came from the Fishing creek region after the opening of the mines there. A fte r various en­ largements the furnace w as teased successively