Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/179

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��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

��CHAPTER XVII.

��TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY.

��Thk Divide — Water Toirses — Soii.-

��■ SiRFACE Deposits — Goi-o- Geology.

��Iron Ore — Geolookal STRrcTURE — Economic

��SURVEY OF 1878 In the beginning, the Lord made the heaven and the earth.

RICHLAND COUNTY is situated on the highest part of the divide between the waters of Lalie Erie and the Ohio River. The surface on the north is comparativeh' level, but rises toward tlie south to the height, in places, of nearly one thousand feet above the lake. In the southeast part of the count}- there are chains of high hills, separated by narrow val- leys, and exhibiting almost a mountainous character. The Black Fork of the Mohican River rises in the north part of the count}', and, passing through the townships of Blooming Grove. Franklin. Weller, Mifflin and Monroe, and thence into Ashland Count}', flows in a deep channel which connects on the north with the channels of drainage into the lake. A similar cliannel. having a similar northern connection, passes a little west of Mansfield, and, now filled with silt and gravel, forms the bed of Owl Creek. Between these valleys the hills rise in irregular chains, often quite abruptly, and in the southern and southwestern parts of the county to an elevation of from 200 to 500 feet al)ove the valleys. In Jefferson Township a long -chest- nut ridge.' traversed by the road leading west from Independence, reaches an elevation of

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��BY M. C. RE.4D.

450 feet above the railroad at Independence. On the geologist's table of elevations this rail- road station is given as 659 feet, but he sus- pects this to be excessive. If correct, the elevation of the ridge is 1,059 feet above the lake, and is one of the highest points in the State. Two and a half miles northeast of Bell- ville, and near the north line of Jefferson Town- ship, the hills reach an elevation of 952 feet above the lake. About two miles north, and on the direct road to Mansfield, the surface rises rapidly to an elevation of 912 feet, and at three and a half miles, the summit between Bellville and Mansfield is 932 feet above the lake, or 370 feet above Mansfield.* The descent from the top of this divide is much more gradual to the north than to the south, a characteristic of all parts of the water-shed in this neighborhood. The highest points to the north and toward Mansfield are, by the barometer. 320 feet. 300 feet. 190 feet, etc.. above Mansfield. About seven miles west of the city, and near the western line of the county, is an isolated knob, which is designated by

��* The height of Mansfield above the lake is, on the profile of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, 581 feet; on the profile of the Sandusky & Mansfield Railroad, 657 feet ; on the profile of the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railroad, 592 feet; part of the diflerence being due to the different elevations of the localities passed by the railroads in the city.

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