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JAMES NICHOLAS
HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 187 CHAPTER I. TOPOGRAPHY. ALLEN COUNTY is bounded on the north by Putnam, south by Auglaize, east by Hancock and Hardin, and west by Van Wert. The elevation at Delphos is only 188 feet above the level of Lake Erie, while at Lima depot the altitude is 263 feet. The area is about 403 square miles, and the present (1885) population estimated at 40,000. As set off in 1820, it claimed an area of 543 square miles. Lima, the scat of justice, is almost in the geographical center of the county. The Pennsylvania Railroad system connects this city with the northwestern townships; the Chicago & Atlantic with the western towns; the Lake Erie & Western and the Dayton & Michigan Railroads afford communication with the southwest and the south; while the eastern and northwestern extensions of these railroads also bring the townships along the eastern line of the county into direct communication with the county seat. The Toledo, Delphos & Indianapolis Railroad and the Miami & Erie Canal run south from Delphos. The number of pike roads, together with this net-work of railroads, renders travel in this county agreeable and economical. Delphos in the northwestern corner, and Bluffton in the northeastern portion of the county, are two important villages. Spencerville in the southwest part of the county is a village which shows many evidences of progress. Throughout the county a number of small but prosperous business centers exist. Nearly every township boasts of at least one prosperous village. 188 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. The physical appearance of the county, as presented to the traveler by railroad, is misleading in many respects. Owing to the great extent of the hardwood forests, which indicate a fertile soil, the cleared lands of the county are hidden away, so to speak. Prof. Winchell, in his review of surface features and soil, states: " The western half of the county is flat, and presents the common features of the Black Swamp. The banks, left by erosion of the streams, are from ten to fifteen feet in height above the summer stage of the water. The Auglaize, below Cramersville (Section 3, Marion), has frequent exposures of the rock. Also, in the township of Amanda, near the county line, the rock forms the bed of the river. In general, however, the bed of the river is on the drift materials. The same is true of. the Ottawa. The soil of this portion of the county is usually a close, heavy clay. There are places, however, where considerable alluvium is spread over the surface of the drift, incident to the overflow of the streams. Occasionally, as in the Van Wert Ridge, which passes through the townships of Marion and Sugar Creek, gravelly soils appear in the midst of the prevailing clay. Such tracts are uniformly more elevated, and slightly rolling. The eastern portion of the county has a different general contour. It is separated from that already described by, and is co-extensive with, the westward course of the streams. It is undulating or gently rolling, and in the southeastern corner of the county is characterized by prominent gravelly ridges and knolls, the result, no doubt, of a great glacial flow. The undulating surface prevails over most of the township of Sugar Creek, but is more or less wanting in Richland and Monroe Townships. There are likewise some flat and prairie-like tracts even in Auglaize and Perry Townships. In the former, Sections 1, 12, 13 and 14 have this character. In the latter there is much flat land in the vicinity of Amherst. The soil in the eastern portion of the county is generally the same as that of the western. Its chief element is clay, yet it contains much more gravel, and sometimes stones or bowlders. In the settlement of the county these elevated knolls and ridges were first selected. That tract of rolling land known as the Dividing Ridge,' in the southeastern part of the county, is at the present time in marked contrast with much of the adjoining county. It is occupied by handsome, well-drained and well-cultivated farms, the HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 189 native timber having been nearly all removed, while on either side much of the country is still in its primeval state. Throughout this tract the rock is occasionally seen in the beds of the streams. The banks of the streams are usually higher than in the western part of the county, The banks of the Ottawa at Lima are about thirty feet, and continue of that height for two miles above the city, the water running on the surface of the rock." The rivers and streams flow west and southwest in the eastern portion of the county and northwest in the western towns. RIVERS AND CREEKS. The Auglaize is one of the historical streams of Ohio. Along its banks the troops of the Revolution and of the war of 1812 camped and fought and reveled. In its neighborhood were the villages of Indian chiefs, whose names are synonymous with much of all that was sanguinary and diabolical in the warfare of the English of that day. Here, too, in 1812, Fort Amanda was constructed, and a ship-yard established. The Auglaize has its source in Hardin County, flows through the townships of Auglaize, Perry, Amanda and Marion; thence in a circuitous course through the counties of Putnam, Paulding and Defiance, and enters the Maumee River in the town of Defiance. Although the Auglaize of to-day is what may be termed a diminutive river, in the past it was a navigable stream, capable of floating heavily-laden flat-boats or scows. The improvement of the country, its canals, ditches and local drainage have all conspired to reduce its volume of water, and bring what was once a great river into the category of creeks. The Ottawa River was named after the tribe of the same name, whose hunting grounds extended along the course of that stream. The upper river is known as Hog Creek. Hog Creek, the swinonia of the old lawyer, Count Coffinberry, was named in 181'7 by the first settlers. It appears that an attempt was made in 1812 by some settlers at Piqua to drive a lot of hogs to the military posts on the Maumee, but on reaching this creek the drovers became alarmed and fled back to the settlements, leaving the hogs at liberty to roam through this district. This stream has its source in the marshes of Hardin County, and flows thence through the townships of Jackson, Bath, Ottawa, Shawnee, German and Sugar Creek, entering Paulding County, where it forms a confluence with the Auglaize. 190 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. Riley Creek, which waters the northeast corner of the county, has its main source on the north border of Hog Creek Marsh, with tributary feeders between Beaver Dam and Bluffton. It flows northwest to Blanchard's Fork of the Auglaize. Sugar Creek derives its name from the numerous maple groves along its banks. This stream has its sources between Beaver Dam and Cranberry, flows in a tortuous course northwest, and enters the Ottawa a few miles south of Kalida. Plum Creek rises in the extreme northern part of the county, flows northwest and enters the Ottawa below Kalida. Cranberry Creek may be said to have its source at a point just northwest of Cranberry or Rockport Village, whence it flows into the Blanchard north of Glandorf. Dog Creek rises in Van Wert, flows through a part of Spencer and the southwest part of Marion, and thence parallel with the Miami & Erie Canal. |
